TWO PLOVERS RUN DOWN, KILLED… WEST DENNIS BEACH LOT CLOSED INDEFINITELY!
WEST DENNIS, Massachusetts – In what can only be described as a major blow to the local plover community, two piping plovers were reportedly run over and killed by a vehicle late Friday night.
Tuesday evening, Boston 25 News reported that “a part of a West Dennis beach is closed after two piping plovers were accidentally killed by a vehicle late Friday night.”
And over the weekend, Dennis Beaches announced on their Facebook page that the public parking lot will remain closed to all vehicles:
“West Dennis Beach Vehicle Access Update – Multiple Piping Plover Nests Hatched June 12, 2022
At this time, West Dennis Beach has a record high number of plover nests that have hatched.
The Town received a Certificate of Inclusion in the Massachusetts Habitat Conservation Plan for Piping Plover from the MA Division of Fisheries & Wildlife (MADFW) that allows vehicles to pass by unfledged plover chicks, subject to risk minimization procedures. These risk minimization procedures include monitoring the location of the chicks, managing vehicle traffic as needed, and restricting recreational vehicle access.
Per State requirements, to fully comply with the avoidance and minimization measures of the Towns permit at this time, the public parking lot will remain closed to all but essential vehicles.”
. . . . .
There has been no word as to the age of the plovers run down and killed Friday evening, or whether they had been recently hatched or not.
The Boston 25 report went on to point out, “The entire one-mile stretch of the non-resident parking lot is off limits, and that has some summer renters worried.” There will apparently be a town vote on Tuesday to determine when and if the beach will reopen.
. . . . .
HN NOTES ON THE MATTER – Reports on this subject are vague leaving many with questions:
– What agency officially investigated this fatal vehicle vs. plover incident?
– Was there an official accident reconstruction?
– Current sources say the two plovers were killed “accidentally,” but how did officials determine that was, in fact, the case? Did they do a background investigation on the driver? Did they check the driver’s social media pages? Was the driver a member of any plover hate groups? We all know that plovers have many local “haters.” There are many people online who have said they taste like chicken, for example. And a large number of people in Barnstable have expressed being very upset with the Hyannis plover community because of the recent cancellation of their traditional July 4th fireworks celebration near Kalmus Beach. Not long after the cancellation announcement, many voiced “plover hate speech” in the comment sections of several social media posts about the topic.
HN will provide official updates to this developing story as they become available.
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ON A SIDE, BUT POSSIBLY RELATED NOTE: HN is trying to run down reliable information on a recent, unconfirmed rumor that plovers have been seen mating on the Hyannis Village Green near the bandstand… [DEVELOPING – CHECK BACK FOR UPDATES!]
P.S. – Today’s Hytown Vignette is a brought to you by The Byrds… [CLICK IT/CRANK IT!]
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