. . . the geese at Camp Smith. (My apologies to the Marine Corps for applying their slogan to another service branch.)

Anyway, I happened to be out at Camp Smith in Cortlandt last week for a story about the New York Army National Guard installation. The camp covers about 1,600 acres and about 350 or so are the developed part – buildings, parking lots, rifle ranges, lawns, etc.

The ranges, lawns and other open, unpaved areas offer that buffet Canada geese love – endless grass. For those of you who have followed the long saga of suburbanites versus geese, you know one of the non-lethal suggestions for goose control is noisemakers. Sounding like shotguns or firecrackers, they’re supposed to make the birds uncomfortable so they leave.

A couple of dozen geese on this day wandered near one of the camp’s roads. The birds are apparently common enough there that they even showed up in a photograph that was part of a computer presentation on the Guard’s master plan for the camp.

Where I’m going here is this: rifle ranges (with automatic gunfire on occasion) and landing helicopters are possibly the ultimate noisemakers. As some law enforcement types took target practice on a nearby range Friday, these birds seemed as relaxed as if they were on a ball field in Scarsdale (or in Depew Park in Peekskill, which is where TJN photographer Joe Larese found the birds above).

Just wanted to say hello to the folks looking in on this latest entry to Lohud’s blogocracy. There’s plenty of information about environmental issues that we journalists run into daily that never finds its way into the newspaper because there just isn’t enough space. Besides, who wants to kill more trees when you can merely turn on your computer?

A quick example: There are scholarships available through the Saw Mill River Audubon office for summer programs that have an environmental bent. Young people 13-17 can get financial help for programs that qualify, through the Larry Light Memorial Scholarship Fund. The grants are not based on financial need, but are awarded based on interest in the environment the applicant has demonstrated in his or her schoolwork.

Adults aren’t excluded from opportunity either. The Saw Mill River Audubon’s Adult Scholarships program helps provide training for “teachers and other adults involved in science or environmental education with youth.”

For more information, contact the organization at (914) 666-6503 or download an application from the Audubon’s Web site at “www.sawmillriveraudubon.org.”:http://www.sawmillriveraudubon.org/

Welcome to The Nature of Things, one of LoHud’s new blogs. By its title, you should get some idea of what will go on around here, namely, “a chance to talk about the wild denizens that share the Lower Hudson Valley with us and the natural settings that make this place home for everyone.”

We’re hoping it’s a chance to marvel at mysteries like this:

TJN photographer Frank Becerra spied this bobcat about to cross Federal Hill Road in Southeast back in October. He said he slowed his car down, turned around and parked, figuring the animal wanted to cross the road and would do so when it felt comfortable. His patience paid off.
Then, there are mysteries like this: (Warning, it’s kind of graphic.)

The photo comes courtesy of Bud Taney of Patterson. It shows a moose leg and some hair – the remains of a young male moose found in December in the Great Swamp in Patterson. State conservation police are investigating the matter (shooting a moose in Putnam County is illegal). Last we knew, two officers paddled into the swamp last week to retrieve the remains. Taney, like others in town, was appalled at the crime.

So, my colleagues Greg Clary and Ken Valenti will also be posting tidbits here. Valenti is steeped in Long Island Sound lore and Clary, the paper’s environmental reporter, dabbles in almost anything. Naturally, feel free to shoot us an e-mail, which you can find by clicking on the poster’s name below each blog item.