Site Discussions

Thanks for the kind comments!! Noreen, was Dan Bean at St. Mikes when you studied? He’s another fan of all things aquatic. Cindy, these spiders are reasonably common, but not so common that I could easily find one today if I wanted to; usually I stumble upon them when I’m looking for something else. Betsy, thanks for the poetry; I think we always need more of that.
Cheers
Declan

I’ve been working in the woods for 46 years. I have never see a red maple that has serrated leaves edges.

I have a very large old oak tree with a significant lean uphill at the back left corner of my cabin. It has many dead limbs in the top and it has significant insect damage showing at the base. There is a large hole showing at the base and I just can’t tell how much solid is left in the base of the tree. My neighbor has forbid me from felling it onto his property, which leave me only one direction to fell it and that is in the opposite direction of the lean downhill onto my property, or hire a company who can take it straight down piece by piece. Any suggestions?

Thank you for these most informative posts.
I hope you’ll bee able to keep them up through the seasons.

Thelma,

Wild grapes ripen in early fall, so although there’s going to be some variation, my best guess would be the second half of September.

We have several herds that regularly come through our property.  The smaller herd of a buck and 4 doe also had 2 fawn.  The doe was killed by a car.  My husband confirm she had been lactating.  The babies stayed in the paddock next to the road seeming to wait for her.  I tried to put out goat milk replacer and kid feed, but they seem more interested in grass.  They have not joined either herd and none of the does adopted them although they socialize a bit in the evening.  They do wander, but always come back.  It’s been 3 weeks.  Are they still waiting for the doe? They seem fine. I just wish they would join a herd rather than be alone.

There is a similar story of an English dandy in a horse and buggy who observed a big Scots lad who was piling rocks on a stone boat .
“What are you growing -rocks?”
The young lad stood up tall puffed out his chest and answered “No .Men!”

I found some wild grapes in the mini forest along the recreational trails of Brampton this first week of July 2020. Their fruits are small green in colour. When will these grapes be ready for harvest?

I grew up with a Dad who flew from the rural Fryeburg Maine airport, and later got my license, too. Your words reflect my history with this beautiful area - and how the added appreciation of our Northeast wildlands is enhanced when viewed from above!

Yes-skimming the White Mt.‘s is a thrill, and seeing the huge glacial boulders in the bottom of our pond is all one needs to fuel up for another take-off. Thanks for all you do for our special environment. JH

Great information. I have dry aged my venison in a fridge for many years but never with a fan. I think I am going to put a fan in my fridge this year. I do usually get the burgundy color but not as evenly as what you show here.

I never knew
all these spiders could do!
I had no clue.
But thanks to you
and your crew,
now I do!

:) Betsy

Interesting, informative, and humorous article on a type of spider I have never even heard of.  Thank you!  I will now be on the look-out for these spiders.  - Cindy

Great article.
I have a great interest in water wildlife, be it mammalian or insects. I also was a student at St Michael’s College in the early 70’s.
Thanks for a great article that I shared with my eldest son and my grandson, both of whom share my interests.

Robert Thorsen in his book Stone by Stone explains and describes how the stones did not appear until the forest was cut off for farm land. The original forest with leaf litter and snow cover kept soil temperatures high enough that the frost did not harvest the crop. It was only the cleared land that had the ground frozen deep enough to do the job.

Thanks Jim! This is such a kind note. Now seems a good moment to acknowledge our circulation and communications manager Emily Rowe, and assistant editor Meghan McCarthy McPhaul, who are both involved in producing the series on a weekly basis!

For over ten years, we have had a pair of Broadwings nest in the woods behind our house in Essex County NY. in the Adirondack Mountains near Schroon Lake. In the early years I assumed it was the same birds coming back each year, but after more than ten years I now wonder about that. We so look forward to their return each spring. We named our wifi system “Hawksnest”!

Great work Elise! Nice selection of topics, backed up by informative links. I’ve put This Week in the Woods up as my default browser screen.

You might be surprised as to why I loved your article. I’m actually writing a children’s book with a vole as the main protagonist and I have been doing research into vole species, habitat, food sources, etc. Your article was fascinating and very helpful in my research. It saddens me that 90% of what I find in reference to voles is how to kill them. When did we, as humans, lose all sight of how to coexist with other creatures? Thanks for publishing.

Thanks for your story, Suzanne, though what a sad ending. It’s impressive your mother was able to raise the baby orioles - I don’t think they’re easy songbirds to raise.

Tom, good to know orioles are doing well in your area.

Rob, I have the Peterson Field Guide to Birds’ Nests.

Thank you very much for this article! It (along with your referenced source from UC, Riverside and Snopes.com) helped to develop my side of a recent debate with my dearest partner, however, I wish that I had found it years ago during my career as a secondary science teacher! I was asked about “granddaddy long legs’” venom being the most dangerous spider venom in the world every year for more than a decade. Sadly, due to testing, I, being the physical, earth, and space sciences teacher, did not have enough time to properly devote to the exploration of this subject.

I will pass it along to those who still wonder about those spiders in the corner. Thank you again!