The original item was published from July 27, 2018 11:40 AM to September 1, 2023 1:58 PM
Sink your teeth into some specially-themed facts about the Town of Parker compiled for Shark Week.
Mako sharks are the fastest species of shark, some of which have been observed reaching speeds of 60 miles per hour. At that rate, a mako could traverse the 8.2 miles of the Cherry Creek Trail located within the Town of Parker in 8 minutes and 12 seconds — granted the trail was submerged in water.
Explore the 30 miles of trail maintained by Parker Parks and Recreation at www.ParkerRec.com/Trails. You may also access a digital trail map at www.ParkerRec.com/289/Parks-Trails-and-Facilities-Maps.
The largest shark species is the whale shark, which can grow 40 feet in length. That’s approximately the length of three and a half of Parker’s trademark lampposts (each 11’6”) lined up end to end.
Parker’s Engineering/Public Work Department’s Traffic Services Division maintains more than 300 globe lampposts around Town in addition to other responsibilities. Learn more about the work of this department at www.ParkerOnline.org/1998/Engineering-and-Public-Works.
Sharks have an excellent sense of hearing. At best, sharks can detect sound 800 feet away, meaning a shark circling the O’Brien Park gazebo could listen in on a Friday Night Jazz session taking place at The Schoolhouse Theater.
Find the full 2018/2019 Parker Arts season schedule at www.ParkerArts.org.
By estimates, sharks can cycle through 35,000 teeth over a lifetime. In comparison, the Town’s Building Division completed 33,972 building inspections in 2017.
For a close encounter with a deep sea predator, make your way to Discovery Park to see Jim Choate’s sculpture, “The Maneater.” The welded steel shark, which doubles as a bike rack, gives the viewer an up close and personal idea of the average size of a young adult great white shark.
Fully grown, female great white sharks are between 15 and 21 feet in length while males are 11 to 13 feet. Great whites can weigh more than 2,000 pounds!
Hear more about this sculpture and other works of public art around Town by downloading the Otocast app and completing the Parker Public Art tour. Throughout the tour, you’ll hear the story behind each of the exhibited works from the individual artists.
Great hammerhead sharks, on average, grow to be 11 feet long — exactly the width of the largest blades used by our fleet of snowplows.
Even though winter seems far away on these summer days, you can read up on Town snow operations and policies at www.ParkerOnline.org/Snow.