Site Discussions
Jennifer Short
Oct 26, 2015
I found a wooly bear (?) today in my garage. It appeared to be all black. I saw on another site that popular belief is that the less orange/brown on this caterpillar means a harsher winter for that…
From "Transformations: Which Caterpillar Becomes Which Butterfly?" »
Betsy Owen
Oct 26, 2015
What might be a sudden killer of healthy Wh. Pine saplings? Two years ago nearly all of the 6-10 ft Wh. Pine saplings that had been prolific and healthy after a thinning and pruning of a pine-dominated section of our…
From "Hay-Scented Fern" »
Lawrence
Oct 25, 2015
I can not remember an acorn harvest like this year’s. I find the variety fascinating. One species has a tiny and very delicate tip.., it resembles the shape of a candy kiss. Some retain their caps better than others,…
From "Woods Whys: Acorns and Weather" »
Barbara
Oct 25, 2015
A shrew wouldn’t eat birdseed, would it? So if what I caught in my birdseed bag in my house is definitely not a mouse, then it must be a vole, right? I have what I thought was a mouse…
From "Shrew or Mole? Mouse or Vole?" »
Declan McCabe
Oct 24, 2015
I have seen blackthorn and white thorn grown as naturally ‘barbed’ fences. They were grown in a row spaced a couple of feet apart. Once they reached a desired height a slash hook was used to partly cut…
From "Tricks of the Trade: Living Fenceposts" »
julius Muchemi
Oct 23, 2015
Structure Diversity means the variability of a stand’s structural attributes (dbh, no. of trees per hectare, etc) whereby stand complexity is more of a generalized ranking of the level of this diversity: either patchy, dense or multi-storied …
From "What Is Forest Stand Structure and How Is It Measured?" »
Jaime Pearson
Oct 22, 2015
My kids saw the Wooly Bear Caterpillar and wanted to know what it would turn into. Thank you for your site. I love that I don’t have to know everything but instead can share in the adventure…
From "Transformations: Which Caterpillar Becomes Which Butterfly?" »
Jan Whitaker
Oct 21, 2015
We go kayaking on Lake Champlain every summer. This summer we could not help but notice the near total absence of zebra mussels in the area of Button Bay.
From "Zebra Mussels" »
Carol Kindt
Oct 19, 2015
I photographed a praying mantis on the leaf of a house plants I left on the front porch recently. It was very green and I’d say at least four inches long. The abdomen was very large. It…
From "The Truth About Praying Mantises" »
Dave
Oct 19, 2015
I think it’s always a bad idea to feed wildlife, Sandy. You’re training the skunk to associate humans with food, and your neighbor might not have the same tolerance that you do. If you want to encourage skunks…
From "The Winter Life of the Skunk" »
Foxy Moxy
Oct 19, 2015
I just identified a tiger moth caterpillar. Thanks for the informative website!
From "Transformations: Which Caterpillar Becomes Which Butterfly?" »
Cal Carver
Oct 19, 2015
Hi: Just read your interesting article on the Journal of Earnest Magoon. Going to Ancestry.com I found a fair amount about him, He was born on March 11, 1886 to Asa Magoon and Nellie A. Magoon. He was…
From "An Old Journal" »
mikael batten
Oct 18, 2015
At the time this journal was written, Mr. Magoon was living on the farm were I grew up and my parents still live. His mother lived on the farm I presently own. What interested me was how much lumber and…
From "An Old Journal" »
Butch Berntsen
Oct 16, 2015
Today, I caught one in my front yard - never thought they lived this far north. Seemed harmless enough so I released him back into his wooded habitat.
From "Opossums Find Cold Comfort in New England’s Winters" »
dave
Oct 15, 2015
Some entrepreneurial lumber dealers around here sell blue-stained pine, which has a blueish hue. We did a column on the fungus: http://northernwoodlands.org/articles/article/blue_stain_fungi
From "Field Work: At Work Mining Timber with Tom Shafer" »
sandy
Oct 13, 2015
I have been feeding my skunks chicken, ears of corn some peanuts..is this a healthy diet?
From "The Winter Life of the Skunk" »
Dave
Oct 13, 2015
All the hinge is doing, Flip, is keeping the tree attached to the stump, which is safer. You want to cut your notch in the direction you want the tree to fall. And you want to use wedges on the…
From "Bore Cutting Basics" »
Roca Welch
Oct 12, 2015
My oak is having a mast year and has more acorns than in the last 10 years. However, the last year was a terrible oak moth year. We lost many oaks in the area due to drought and the caterpillars. I’…
From "Woods Whys: Acorns and Weather" »
Virginia Kropas
Oct 12, 2015
I moved 3 sweetfern from a friend’s property in Maine (with permission) 3 summers ago. Only one survived and it is pretty magnificent with new babies/suckers this summer. I have it right at the entrance to yard so…
From "Tracking Tips: Red Squirrel Stashes and Caches" »