Kern River Culture Part Two: Development and serenity - By N.L. Belardes
A family of quail darts into the foliage along the Kern Recreational bike path, startled by my passing. Just further up the road, cottontail rabbits scamper, one scurries across the path, nearly under my front wheel.
I say hello to a few people on the path. Others ride past grim-faced, determined. Ten years ago people were just as determined in their morning routines on the path, but today people are less friendly. They seem more wrapped in their individual worlds. The path has expanded up hills, further from the city, and stretches further east and west through the city as well. Maybe the path has expanded from the little microcosm it once was, and so a little more city mentality has found its way onto the trail.
Near Truxton Lake I see geese and remember the Bird Man. I’m glad the local news farmed my blog, ran with their own critter crossing story to help bring more awareness to the plight of dying waterfowl in the city. The local animals need help from people in order to survive. If they're crossing the road, you should stop. But then, maybe the city needs bird crossing signs as I have seen in other cities. It would raise awareness.
Just last night I realized a family of kit foxes live right in downtown Bakersfield. They live in a drain. I wonder if anyone cares. People need to care in order for them to survive. Yet I can't say where. Someone might read this and then go kill them.
I used to see so many kit foxes around CSU Bakersfield. Most of them were wiped out from tractors, or likely poisoned while school personnel killed off squirrels in the name of development and overpopulation of animals.
Off to the south near Riverwalk Park I see construction. Heavy equipment moves dirt and shatters the silence of a long bike ride as development makes its way further into the serenity of the path.
**************************************
Read part one: Kern River Culture Part One: Bakersfield bird man talks about fishermen being harmful to waterfowl
I say hello to a few people on the path. Others ride past grim-faced, determined. Ten years ago people were just as determined in their morning routines on the path, but today people are less friendly. They seem more wrapped in their individual worlds. The path has expanded up hills, further from the city, and stretches further east and west through the city as well. Maybe the path has expanded from the little microcosm it once was, and so a little more city mentality has found its way onto the trail.
Near Truxton Lake I see geese and remember the Bird Man. I’m glad the local news farmed my blog, ran with their own critter crossing story to help bring more awareness to the plight of dying waterfowl in the city. The local animals need help from people in order to survive. If they're crossing the road, you should stop. But then, maybe the city needs bird crossing signs as I have seen in other cities. It would raise awareness.
Just last night I realized a family of kit foxes live right in downtown Bakersfield. They live in a drain. I wonder if anyone cares. People need to care in order for them to survive. Yet I can't say where. Someone might read this and then go kill them.
I used to see so many kit foxes around CSU Bakersfield. Most of them were wiped out from tractors, or likely poisoned while school personnel killed off squirrels in the name of development and overpopulation of animals.
Off to the south near Riverwalk Park I see construction. Heavy equipment moves dirt and shatters the silence of a long bike ride as development makes its way further into the serenity of the path.
**************************************
Read part one: Kern River Culture Part One: Bakersfield bird man talks about fishermen being harmful to waterfowl
Labels: Bakersfield, bike path, commercial development, Kern County, Kern recreational path, kit fox, real estate, Truxton Lake
This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on
Friday, May 18, 2007.
You can leave your response.
You know, their was a family of kit foxes that lived in a gutter @ 14th and K st, until the hoodlums on the other corner, managed to terrorize them to death. I'm not certain if their still around or not; I'll ask around and find out.
leave a response