Featured Articles
Why do Some Spruce Trees Appear Reddish in Winter?
Those reddish spruce needles you see adorning some mountaintop spruce trees are dead, killed by freezing. They are a flagrant indication that the host tree could not stand the weather. Such intolerance would be problematic for any tree, since none can hibernate or move south to avoid the winter. But it is especially odd for red spruce, a tree species… (more)
Management Idea: Creating a Permanent Opening
Picture a grassy clearing in the woods, a fox pouncing on a meadow vole, a nest of baby sparrows. Picture a view of distant ridges or a nearby stream. Picture a few kids – maybe your kids or grandkids – looking up at the stars before crawling into their sleeping bags. Picture all this happening on your land. In forestry… (more)
The Meaning of Meat: Adult-Onset Hunters Look to the Land for Sustenance
As a teenager, Deborah Perkins found hunting repulsive. During her years at Greely High School in Cumberland, Maine, she wrote a passionate essay arguing that the pursuit was morally wrong. Two decades later – now living 25 miles north, in Poland, and working as a consulting wildlife biologist – she hunts grouse, turkey, and deer. Perkins’ perspective began to change… (more)
Camera Trapping: How to Get the Shot
My good friend, ecologist Jeff Parsons, broke trail through 16 inches of fine, fresh snow. The weather was clear, the temperature hovered in the single digits, and the January sun cast long, austere shadows across a pristine meadow that sloped gently toward the Missisquoi River. I followed about ten feet behind Jeff, staying in the deep trough his snowshoes made… (more)
Not Your Grandma’s Field Guide
So your tech-savvy child or spouse got you an iPad for Christmas and assured you that this device would change your life. “Thanks,” you said in a drawn-out way, smiling with your mouth open, thinking to yourself: “A paper weight will change my life?” Fear not. There is a way to apply this sleek, urban looking thing to your favorite… (more)
Getting to Know Bark
As the vibrant colors of fall give way to the more subtle hues of winter, tree bark becomes a focal point in the forested landscape. The splendid contrasts of bark are highlighted by the low-riding winter sun – the white, curly strips of paper birch juxtapose with the dark, burnt cornflake scales on black cherry; the furrowed ski track patterns… (more)
From the Center
These are difficult times for families and businesses in our region: for loggers and mill workers, for land trusts and small business owners, for educators and small not-for-profit publishers in little towns like Corinth, Vermont – population 1,435. And so it humbles me to report that despite the hard times, our readership is growing, our advertisers remain faithful, and our… (more)
Editor’s Blog
The Ice-Fishing Muscle
Move your hand to your groin area and trace your inner thigh to where your leg becomes torso. You’ll feel a cord-like muscle there that seems to attach your upper and lower regions together. Online medical texts were more baffling than helpful in determining the specific name of this body part, but ask any ice fisherman and they’ll know it as the “ice-fishing muscle.” Spend a day running for tip-ups (also known as “jacks” in some places), and the ice-fishing… (more)
What in the Woods Is That?
Gnarly Branch, Dude
What are these gnarled formations on this birch branch?
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Nothern Woodlands News
The Outside Story
North Country Pig Out
Ever wonder why those Angry Birds on your smartphone app are so mad at those pigs? It’s probably because the pigs are feral. According to estimates by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), there are about five million free-ranging, feral swine living in the U.S. and they’re wreaking havoc on native ecosystems. If you were a ball-shaped bird, all that… (more)
Recent Discussions
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Madeline Bodin says “because they are not native to this continent, they have no natural predators here”; did they never have predators in the wild, where they originated? And did… (More on North Country Pig Out)
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One would of course add dill? kj (More on The Ice-Fishing Muscle)
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i’m 70 yrs old, my granfather told me back when i was a little guy about the wild boeres geting out thought the broken fences of colben park back in… (More on North Country Pig Out)
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Pickerel are best pickled. Clean the fish and cut them up in 1” long cross sections. Drop into standard pickling solution, refrigerate and check it out in a couple of… (More on The Ice-Fishing Muscle)
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Nice article. One speculation: Could those clinging brown leaves create a little extra shade, thereby discouraging competing evergreens under the canopy of the young oaks and beeches? That would be… (More on Why Do Some Leaves Persist On Beech and Oak Trees Well Into Winter?)