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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?

I saw one in Potsdam NY..Oct 2009. I was going slow over railroad tracks and had to brake as this big mnt lion crossed three feet in front of my car it paused looked at my daughter on the passenger side and continued into the reeds..in VT my same daughter and I saw a smaller mnt lion cross the road in Eden on RT.109, December 2017

Very interesting! According to the pictures, I wonder if the ‘burning bush’ could be the European spindletree (Euonymus europeus) instead of E. alatus. E. europeus is an invasive and it much taller. The overall silouhette is quite different than for the winged burning bush

I like them. They’re the ones who inspired me to start feeding birds and later attract native birds that weren’t around before…and I think their hop is cute. Blue jays have no trouble with them and the chickadees sneak in, saw all three chickadees today in fact. Then a nut hatch as well as as few cardinals, woodpecker, juncos, and gold finches have been around. What I like about them is that they’re raise orphan baby house sparrows and work together as a species rather than being territorial like other birds (although it’d be nice if they didn’t work against other birds either)...but I haven’t had any problems with them and other birds. I did notice one thing though, if the weather is cold,  they tend to become more aggressive. However, once I put more food, the aggression went down so maybe just having enough food is the key to being peaceful… they just want to survive…and before I put food out, they were more aggressive with eachother even,not just the other types of birds, so maybe it’s just the instinct to survive like any creatures would do.I respect that you are open minded enough to consider their declining population in their native land. Perhaps we should smuggle some chickadees and nut hatches to Europe. Kidding, I wouldn’t want any cheep cheep to be hurt or treated badly (from smuggling).

Very helpful analysis, thank you!

I thought that snake naturally shed skin so that his sensations can be reinstalled. I heard snakes cannot hear sounds and only feels with his skins and vibrating grounds and air. So nature may be providing him a new set of EARS every now and then for improved hearing.
Marty

I enjoyed your blog about winter waterfowl and the wonderful photos by your husband.  My wife and I went to Lake Champlain a couple of weeks ago, saw just 4 ducks but they were too far away to identify.

Also wanted to say that we saw a snowy owl at the Edward F. Knapp State Airport in Berlin, VT on Jan. 5th., 2019 I will email you a photo I took of it.

I love crows. I have a family of crows I feed daily, they love their in shell peanuts, they get some at my house then follow me to work ( I only work about 10 minutes away) then as I walk in to work they fly with me, I do have one crow who will coo at me or even with me with his/her head down when I give the peanuts it sounds like whoo whoo whoo and it a quiet high sound, you have to be close to hear it. It’s so cute. When the crow does it I do it back, drop the peanuts, and the crow does it again then comes and get its peanuts.

I was wondering why I seem to have a group of blue jays visit my feeders in the winter versus just one at a time other seasons. Your article explains it, thank you!

I love my sweetfern. I have it here, encourage it and use it in conjunction with several other local plants to create salve that we call our Anishinaabe Anti-Ow. If its poison ivy, bug bites, a scratch that seems irritated, diaper rash, fungal skin infection, acne we hit it with this first, it’s our go-to. I love this plant in tea, a bath, and will be trying it for keeping mosquitoes away this summer. If you have lots on your property it means you have poor soil. But it’s so pretty, does such good and smells so good, I would never ask it to leave.

Hi, Mark,
  I love your article about black walnut trees. I’m planning to start an acre or more this summer, but my one concern is, yellow bellied sapsuckers.Did you find anything that would help, should they attack our trees?
  Also, I live in Lancaster Co, PA.. The thousand canker disease is in nearby Bucks Co.. Is there any help for that, or should I plant a different kind of tree? Thanx for any information!

Interesting to learn about Claude Dern, Jr. My grandparents bought Claude Dern, Sr.‘s house in Dorset, which must have been where Claude G. Dern (Jr.) was raised. I feel like I was partly raised in that house too. Claude Dern Sr. was also a character, and I got to know him as a kid, as he often stopped by the house to tell stories.

I have seen a marten only once, when I was living in Boulder, Colorado. Hiking in the Indian Peaks Wilderness west of Boulder I caught something out of the corner of my eye and stopped to watch. A pine marten was crossing the trail in front of me. He/she stopped just off the trail, and we watched each other for a good minute, before the marten turned and quietly moved further back into the woods. It was an unforgettable experience.

Pest Control company just left the house as we have a bat problem. He also located a Flying Squirrel entry. They are cute right up to the point where they invade the house. Looking at some big money to resolve these two issues so, cute? Nope, not so much.

Thank you for explaining this. A kind of paradox isn’t it?