Site Discussions

I read about mange and then lo and behold, the neighborhood fox showed up looking terrible. This was fall of 2018. Fast forward to spring 2019. He is still alive. I made a batch of meatballs (no spices). He/she walks through my yard every morning between 10 and 11. He gets four meatballs every day, today was the third day. Right now I am being aggresive withe the Ivermectin. He took off with one meatball today. Maybe he took it to his mate. I just want him feeling better.

Maybe it’s time to bring in the opossums? Big tick eaters…

Are we making the connection with mice & other small rodents, ticks, and the invasive Japanese barberry plant?

I have lived in Maine my whole life (I’m 17 but that’s besides the point) and I am an avid bear baiter. It’s not quite as simple as everyone is so quick to make it.

For 7 years I’ve been hunting bear over bait and have never even had one come while I was hunting. Granted, I usually only hunt on Friday and/or Saturday but still. And the food doesn’t affect their diet like a lot of people claims it does. Bears would much rather eat fruit or a decomposing carcass over the bait but every now and then it’s a good way to get a few extra calories in before Winter hits, especially for smaller or older bears who can’t compete with bears in their prime.

Morality aside, bear baiting counts for roughly 70% of the annual bear harvest after hunting season. In 2014, the number of bears estimated to be in the State of Maine was 36,000 and all indications point to that number slowly increasing each year. In places such as Caribou or Presque Isle, the bear population has reached it’s maximum. So, baiting is extremely important to maintain bear populations and honestly, we should be considering making the limit 2-3 bear per year at least in some of the northern hunting zones where bears are more abundant.

I apologize for being 5 years late to this conversation but I felt I needed to share a few more facts with people so that maybe we can be a little more open minded about baiting if another poll ever does come back, which is likely to occur in another decade or so. It’s a lot less unethical than some people may think but I do agree stalking bears would be ideal. However, of the dozens and dozens of people I know, only 1 has ever had the opportunity to shoot a bear under natural circumstances.

I also wanted to say that yes, bears are not as violent as we tend to think. In fact, I’ve been within inches of a wild bear before it ran past me while I carried 2 buckets of bait. It didn’t attack even though I had roughly 10 pounds of food with me. But, bears are still dangerous and we need to respect that fact. Bears, especially sows with their cubs, could charge or attack in an instant and I think we all know how bad that usually turns out. No one wants to be mauled in their backyard which is why baiting, trapping, and hunting with dogs needs to remain prominent methods of hunting in Maine.

If you’d like to discuss this with me personally, my email is .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Please consult with veterinarians to add information as to the incidence of tick prevalence in the NE as thy are the tip of the iceberg.  They’ve been screaming about this for the past 10 years.

I remember back in 1973,delivering mink,rabbit,and deer hides to an old tannery in Gloversville.Inside were huge wooden vessels and machinery that looked like it was from the 1800’s.The smell was of hides and chemicals was unbearable.This in January or February.I couldn’t imagine how rough it must have been in the summer.It was not for the faint of heart!

Been reading quite a few of the comments above and I’m amazed by how many people actually prefer using a regular axe as opposed to a maul axe for splitting wood.  But, as one poster wrote, it all depends on what suits you best as regards what type of axe you use.
Here in South Africa we don’t have those long cold winters as in Europe or North America, so many people - even in remote farming areas - are happy to heat their homes using gas or electricity. However, due to the spiralling cost of electricity here, more and more homeowners are installing wood burners in their homes.  Living in an urban area, I don’t have access to trees growing in my immediate vicinity, so whenever I hear the sound of a chainsaw, or see tree fellers in action, I will ask the person for wood which I then would load up and then when I get home, cut logs to size using my Stihl M390.  These logs would then weather for a year, then they would meet my 3kg maul axe.  At first I used an ordinary 1.5kg axe, but it was tough going, and it became a real chore to get anywhere, but then I discovered a maul axe, and , for me it was just great - made all the difference !  We have lots of Australian Bluegum here, which is great fire wood, but the best of all are some African hardwoods - mahogany is the best, and it burns forever with a great heat, but it’s really, really hard to split.  Ok, I’m 77, so maybe it would have been easier for me a few years ago. Who knows…
Good luck, All.

We have six young ones and Mom behind our house in Cumberland Maine and have been watching them with binoculars and a game cam

I was waiting for this, love seeing this numbers discussion. I just tap a few trees out back for hobby sugaring. Last year I tapped on March 10th and the buckets over flowing for 3 solid weeks, all done by April 1st. This year I tapped on March 11th and basically got nothing for 2 weeks, the first week of April they flowed nicely, the next week just average and was all done by the 13th. In the end both years ended up to be very similar in sap flow, the trees just went about it a bit differently.

Amazing to be able to witness fox family life through these photos - thank you!

Thanks for this discussion. I am fortunate to have Saco and Androscoggin River floodplains in my area, especially fun to explore by kayak this time of year! (since the flood water allows paddling through the trees!)              Rick H., Bethel, Maine.

I had a wren nest inside a silk flower arrangement at my backdoor. Yesterday we had a storm come through and a burst of wind blew the arrangement off the shelf it was on. To my horror, some of the eggs spilled out. Using gloves, I placed the eggs back in the nest and replaced the arrangement back on the shelf. This morning, I see that the nest is completely cleaned out. What happened to the eggs?

By the Glienicker Bridge in Berlin stands a huge, beautiful blood red Beech. Now I found an 8 ft high red Beech at a Garden Centre here in Tweed. The tree looks healthy (I have read up on it) and I covet it for my front garden, a southern exposure, the tree‘s label reads: full sun. I would like to print your article to help me care for my beech tree, how do I go about that?
Ingelore Dauphin

When I lived in an isolated area of my small town I fed the crows every day in my backyard. I also imitated their call every time I put out food.They eventually came for the food but never they never came close to me. After putting out food I returned to my deck or watched them from my window. I often wondered what they thought of my (of my possible pathetic crow calls)

Woow that was unusual. I just wrote an incredibly long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear.
Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Regardless, just
wanted to say superb blog!

I just killed a deer while driving my new red Subaru. I’ve always managed to dodge or brake but this one came right at me at noon. On a sunny day. I’m wondering if the red car is more dangerous for them?! Heartbroken

In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, North of Green Bay, I had a goshawk dive bomb me because I was too close to her nest.
After a couple of swooshes, I picked up a branch to protect myself and tried to get a picture of her attacking me.  Well, she came so close, that I ducked down while holding the branch up and she hit my branch and fell to the ground with a slightly bleeding beak.  I took a picture of her on the ground and because she looked alright, I left her her alone.  Later I checked back and she was gone.  I never did find her nest.
Ken

Having lived and worked as a wildlife biologist in the Adirondacks I strongly believe most of the Adirondacks especially in the central portion has a limited prey base. The coyote has taken the niche once held by the wolf and has continued to expand and thrive. The wolf taken in 2001 in the Adirondacks was not doubt of Alaskan atrain

Very well written. The last line says it all.  I am one of the people that does like to catch and eat trout as well as on occasion catch and release.  A lot of really good points have been brought to the front here.  Thank you for putting so much time, effort and personal experience comparison into this.

The locust tree makes one other distinct flavor item. HONEY!! Ask a beekeeper in the area to put a hive around a locus and the bees go crazy for it. I make 40-80lbs per hive in the 10 day flow. Best honey on the planet hands down!