Animal Welfare

Many Richmond residents were horrified to learn that a famous deer who had been roaming in Hollywood Cemetery and the James River park system had been shot and poached this past month. The report even made it to the Washington Post newspaper.

This buck, with a nice big rack of antlers, was a welcome sign of riverfront wildlife and undoubtedly lead a whole herd.

It really was not so much about hunting in general so much as it was about what is supposed to be protected inside the City, where hunting is illegal. Some residents said that people should be more careful about posting photos and other information about wildlife, in case that inadvertently entices more criminals in the future. Over the years, that buck had made it into a lot of local photographs.

Given the amount of gunfire heard last night, enforcement may not seem that obvious, though the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources may also have more resources when it come to poaching than the Richmond Police Department has for illegal shooting.

This incident does beg the question- should the City try to hide remaining pockets of wildlife or celebrate and do more for them publicly?

Elsewhere in Virginia, the nation, and the world, more is being done to protect wildlife from traffic, with wildlife crossings, and noise, with more restrictions on human activity. The City of Richmond, on the other hand, under the rule of VCU and corporations, seems to be moving in the opposite direction. As expressed here earlier last year, the local PTB (Powers That Be) seem determined to blast this neighborhood, and its more natural surroundings, off the hill altogether with a new, unnecessary, outdoor amphitheater.

But dig a little, and the callousness towards nature and wildlife goes much deeper. Indeed, while the very sad story about ‘cemetery buck’ made local media rounds, some residents are wondering if another story should really be getting more attention- it’s to the Richmond Free Press and reporter Jeremy Lazarus’ credit that an article entitle ‘VCU’s rat de-bait’ appeared in that newspaper this past week (Full disclosure: I do some part-time technical work for the Richmond Free Press).

It comes as another outrage to the ravaged historic park- what was a wooded, Victorian park treasured by City residents has been expensively turned into, essentially, another VCU campus lawn in a long-involved ‘renovation’. It’s a depressing end for this place that some City residents had hoped could have become part of the ‘East Coast Greenway’.

But more pointedly, what the Richmond Free Press article did not get into, is that VCU’s costly, poisonous traps poise a great threat to local wildlife. The glyphosate floated by VCU in Monroe Park is substantial and also affects humans and important pollinators. Any poisoned squirrel or rat from the park can be picked up by hawks and owls, who will also die and spread the poison to the river or wherever they die.

We need local leaders and organizations who are not afraid of the VCU administration to call this poisoning for what it is- totally unacceptable, and demand an immediate halt.

Furthermore, the City needs to look at the big picture and come to terms about its commitment to animal welfare overall. Many residents want to live in a more biophilic city. Unfortunately, government already has a bad reputation for ignoring its human citizens and deferring to the corporate PTB instead.

Jame River Park’s Winter Solstice Celebration

On December 21 Jame River Park System will co-host a midday nature hike for the public around Belle Isle to be led LERN naturalists Bill Shanabrauch and Stacey Moulds (Local Ecotype Richmond Natives) at 12 PM. Meet at the Belle Isle side of the suspension bridge.

In the evening, JRPS Programs hosts a night hike at 6 PM. Hot chocolate provided by Friends of James River Park. Both events meet at the Belle Isle side of the Suspension Bridge. Email programs@jamesriverpark.org for more information.

Second Pleasants Park Workday This Saturday

Neighborhood volunteers will be hard at work this Saturday and invite others to join them-

Please join Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association and Parks and Rec in overhauling Robert Pleasant’s Park! We will arrive at 9am and work until we finish the remaining two sections of fence in the park. We will also move some pavers to make a designated area for a pollinator section of bushes and native wildflowers (to be planted in the Spring). Refreshments will be provided for breakfast and lunch, as well as plenty of water. Please come dressed appropriately for the weather, with work gloves! If you can bring shovels (flat and trench) that would be helpful!

Please see link here:
https://www.meetup.com/rva-clean-city-sweep/events/297194814/

Pleasants Park Volunteer Workday This Saturday

From announcement:

Pleasant’s Park makeover! Sign up here! Two shifts! 9am-1pm, 1pm-5pm. Coffee, water, snacks, and lunch provided! Parks and Rec will be there to help! Come out and hang with your neighbors and help make this park shine!

From Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association:

We are partnering with Parks and Rec to host a two day event to revitalize Pleasant’s Park. The first two years of the block party we raised funds for beautification projects in our parks. This is a direct result of that fundraising. Please join us in helping to make this park shine! The link is in our bio to sign up. We will provide food and drinks! Hope you can make it out, Nov 4th & 11th, 9am-1pm and 1pm-5pm.

Contact OHNA through this email address: ohnarva@gmail.com

Why is it called Pleasants Park?

From the Richmond Friends website (click here for link):

Robert Pleasants, who was born at Curles in Henrico County, Virginia in 1723 and died in 1801, was one Virginia’s most noted Quaker abolitionists. As one of the founders of the Virginia Abolition Society in 1790, he served as president. In 1782 he successfully lobbied for the Manumission Act, which, within one decade, was responsible for freeing over ten thousand slaves in Virginia. In 1792 Mr. Pleasants submitted a petition to the U.S. Congress from the Virginia Abolition Society calling for the end of the slave trade. Mr. Pleasants went to court repeatedly to free hundreds of slaves. He wrote to Virginia leaders such as George Washington and Patrick Henry, asking that slavery be abolished.
Several of these documents are contained on this website.

In 1784, two years after manumitting his slaves, Mr. Pleasants founded the Gravelly Hill School, the first school for free blacks in Virginia, and set aside 350 acres of land to maintain the schools. Henrico Parks and Recreation will dedicate a historic maker on the Gravelly Hill Site in 2003.

The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association successfully petitioned the Richmond City Council in 2003 to name Pleasants Park at 401 South Laurel Street for Robert Pleasants.

This is history that is not part of the City’s Liberty Trail.