Site Discussions

Thanks for this added perspective. As I listened to the VPR piece, I wondered about the issue along the lines discussed here, but did not take the time (and perhaps lacked the perspective) to frame the question this articulately.

The skunk stink is hard to bear and embarrassing when we have company. We cannot find an opening where a skunk could get under the house, but one got under there. How can we lure it out? It is January.

VC 2040 ...when the cast damper is closed should there be any flame going up?  As I understand the operation all the exhaust should exit through the cat.  My stove continues to have flames going up. How does your stove operate?

Is there a list of the 100 snail species in NH?  F&G doesn’t list them.

I think ‘quiet parlor of fishes’ is from Walden. Can search for it in Google Books.

The wording appears in Walden, in the chapter “The Ponds in Winter”. 

Nope. All the maples should run at roughly the same time.

Can you let me know where you found the quote by Thoreau? That is a beautiful image. I’d like to use it in a poem.

We used to find praying mantises as well as walking sticks every summer when I was a kid around 1980 in Nashua NH. I have not seen either one in my adult life.

Thank you for your article. It makes me want to get out on the ice—though with a great eye toward safety! Remarkable the role of water in the facts of life. I recommend Charles Cockell’s - THE EQUATIONS OF LIFE: HOW PHYSICS SHAPES EVOLUTION.

My husband and I just moved into a new home, and we’re not very happy with the amount of heat it uses, so we’re thinking of installing a fireplace to help with this. Your article had some great information about wood pallet stoves, and I liked how you said that if we do get a system like this, it needs to be checked and cleaned once per year. Thanks; we’ll keep this in mind when deciding if a wood pallet stove is right for us.

Once it falls below freezing, I keep a 1.5 gallon Dutch oven which I fill with HOT water; I call it our raccoon hot tub! Youngsters and adults adore the hottub—One Baby fit nose to butt was so excited it began chasing its tail, running in circles for minutes! Question: bathing in water in freezing winter, do they get frostbite? If not, why not?

Today while looking through census from 1880 in Franklin County, someone listed thier profession as “Bark dealer”. You answered my question and more, thank you!

Thanks for this helpful article summary. I was trying to figure this out, myself. Do you think the species of maple you’re tapping should factor into whether to start sooner or later?

What an engaging, informative piece of writing! I learned a lot about both of these fascinating creatures. Much appreciated.

Hi,
I really enjoyed reading your article. I have found myself with a 50 acre ex white pine tree farm and really want to replant with black walnut. I am 100% new to this tree farming venture. It is surprising how little information is out there on how to start up.
Would greatly appreciate any pointers or help you could pass along.

These days I’m in the city 7 days a week. I had forgotten the great nature watching I used to enjoy in Sullivan County, NY.  I remember how thrilled I was when I came upon my first weasel in his regal winter coat. Red squirrels will never stop berating anyone in their path, but they are laughable. I miss those wonderful winter surprises. I wonder if I’d ever spot a Virginia possum in Central Park? Thanks for the pix and the story.

This is an interesting article. But the first and last names need to be reversed—It should be Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley. Also it sounds as if you are describing “glints” which have no color. “Sparkles” have rainbow color which appear when the sun is low focusing on the crystals. This is according to “Color and Light in Nature” by Lynch and Livingston.

Elk would almost certainly not compete with white-tailed deer or moose—elk are primarily grazers, not browsers as are deer and moose. That elk do not out-compete deer is readily apparent in Pennsylvania’s elk range where there is an abundance of white-tails.

Chronic wasting disease seems to be a problem exacerbated by deer and elk farms. In any event, it is almost certainly coming to the northeast irrespective of whether elk are reintroduced.

Whether elk could/should be reintroduced to New England and New York is more a matter of potential issues with agricultural interests—it was a problem in Pennsylvania before intensive management of suitable elk forage was begun in remote areas of the elk range.

I saw a muskrat living on the banks of Lake Superior earlier this winter—now his home is totally ice covered.  What would a muskrat there survive on?