good morning. It's Tuesday. Today, you'll encounter a creature you might not want to encounter face-to-face. We will also learn more about Columbia University's decision to begin suspending students who remained in pro-Palestinian camps beyond the deadline set by Columbia.
A slimy, picky animal that craves crayfish, it's not much to look at.
“It has a dull, brownish appearance,” says Jeff Dragon. “It will be less noticeable.”
He was talking about the Queen Serpent.
Dragon, who studies snakes as a researcher for the New Jersey Pinelands Commission, noticed a specimen last month. This is the first queen snake known to have been seen in New Jersey since 1977.
You might wince at the thought of snakes, but queen snakes are not venomous. They are an endangered species in New York state and listed as critically endangered by NatureServe, a nonprofit organization that collects data on species and ecosystems.
Dragon has been searching for queen snakes in south Jersey since 2021, and although he won't say where specifically to avoid overcrowding the area with snake hunters, he received the following from a friend's brother: I received an email like this. There's a snake in my basement. ”
“I was impressed that he took the time to distinguish that it wasn’t a common garter snake or water snake,” recalls Dragon, who was outside looking for it—what else? Or? — other snakes. “It's amazing that someone who isn't a reptilian found a snake and identified it.”
He was even more impressed when his friend's brother sent him a photo. The dragon jumped out of the forest and thought it would be a good idea to find even a 1 bar cell signal, but by that time the man had released the snake. The dragon went to the house anyway, hoping to encounter a snake nearby.
“Failure,” said the dragon, confused. “They only eat crawfish, and it was here in the basement.” There was nothing tasty. “Maybe it was brought in?”
Dragon searched the area in the spring of 2022, but “we were unsuccessful again,” he said.
However, in August of that year, a man called and told him that there was a dead female queen snake in the mudroom of his home. Dragon hypothesized that the man's pet cat had caught the snake and brought it into the house. He even thought that the cat might have chased the first snake, but the snake ran away and took shelter in the basement.
Last year ended without anything to report. Then, a few weeks ago, I got a call from her friend's brother.
“As soon as I see his name on my phone, I think, 'He's got it,'” Dragon said. He turned out to be dead. “It was right in front of his garage door, implying it was given to him as a present by his cat.”
Mr. Dragon was confident that “there is definitely a population here.”
And not far away he found a living specimen. “They like to coil up in the shrubs above the water, and so, hey, as soon as I saw it coiled up, I didn't hesitate. I branched it out. I grabbed it and immediately realized that it was a 100% female adult queen snake.”
He downplayed the idea that New Jersey hasn't had a queen snake since Jimmy Carter was president and “Star Wars” first hit theaters. “They've been here forever,” he said. “They just weren't discovered.”
and again…
“For us, this is an invasion,” said a weekend headline. “For them, it's a party.”
The headline was about cicadas, but it might as well have been about spotted pumpkins. These are the colorful bugs that experts say New Yorkers should have an adversary relationship with.
How hostile? Please kill me if you see me.
Native to Asia, this orchid fly arrived in New York City in the summer of 2020 during the height of the pandemic. These lamb flies are invasive species that can damage leafy plants. Jose Ramírez Garofalo, an ecologist at Rutgers University, predicts there will be as many spotted fly species this year as there were in 2023, if not more.
He said a warm winter helped keep the population in check last year. They need “a period of time to properly signal the cold and to signal the environment,” he says. “The lanterns didn't have that.” The city's 701 days without snow “plays into this,” he said.
Still, the Department of Agriculture last month urged people to trample on the invasive species and get rid of them by “crushing and scraping off the invasive egg masses, placing them in a plastic bag, sealing it, and disposing of it with your household garbage.” The agency says eggs can be found on tree bark, cars, and objects stored outdoors. “When moving outdoor furniture, RVs, or camping equipment, check for flat, muddy, speckled Lambo fly egg masses,” the agency said in a statement.
weather
A warm, cloudy day with temperatures in the low 60s and winds 7 to 9 mph. Rain and thunderstorms are expected later in the evening, with temperatures in the mid-50s.
Alternate parking lot
Today (Passover) is canceled.
New York latest news
Columbia University begins suspending student protesters
Columbia University announced it would suspend students who remained in the pro-Palestinian camp past the university's Monday afternoon deadline.
Columbia University's announcement comes as New York University announced it would move to discipline student demonstrators who did not leave a pro-Palestinian encampment on its Greenwich Village campus.
Students at the Columbia encampment, along with hundreds of supporters, spent a tense afternoon in a show of solidarity to stop the use of force. By 4pm on Monday – two hours after the deadline – the rally had begun to disperse, leaving only what appeared to be a few dozen students inside the encampment.
The suspension reflected a difficult balance on the part of Columbia University administrators, who were trying to avoid bringing the police department back on campus to arrest students while also making clear that they wanted the protests to end. My colleagues Sharon Otterman and Sarah Maslin Nir write that Colombian authorities appear to be hoping they can dwindle the groups within the encampment without forcing the protesters out. Administrators fear the move will spark further protests.
metropolitan diary
morning ritual
Dear diary:
The West 40th Street deli across the street from my office closed during the pandemic, but I found another one a few blocks away that had good egg and cheese sandwiches.
A nice lady who I assumed was the owner greeted me and everyone who came in with a big smile.
“Good morning, sweetheart,” she cried as we entered.
“Have a nice day, sweetheart,” she said as we left.
After I became a regular, she always had my coffee cup and protective sleeve ready for self-filling as soon as she saw me come in.
After losing my job and no longer commuting to Midtown, I missed those sandwiches and morning rituals. Yes, it was just a toasted bagel with eggs and cheese and a cup of coffee, but it was a place I really loved.
Six months after my last visit to the deli, I returned to the same office building, but not before my first stop for breakfast. I was filled with excitement.
As I walked through the door I saw a woman at the counter. We made eye contact, and a huge smile appeared on her face.
“Hello, dear,” she cried. “I haven't seen you in a while. How are you doing?”
She quickly got my coffee cup ready.
— Ben Schneider
Illustrations by Agnes Lee. Submit your submission here and Click here to read more Metropolitan Diary.