Site Discussions

Hi Dick - lucky you to have that wildlife sighting! What you saw was almost certainly a long- or short-tailed weasel, but their sizes overlap based on gender, their markings are pretty much identical, and the difference in tail length isn’t as obvious as the name implies! Both species are brown and summer, and most (not all) individuals grow white winter coats.

I just caught a quick glimpse of a weasel carrying quickly a Meadow Vole into a hole under a large planting container. The past two years we have had a good population of Meadow Voles, seen mostly in the late fall and winter. This year, however, the population of Meadow Voles and a family of Chipmunks have disappeared. Since the weasel was small, estimated to be about 8-10 inches,  long and brown which weasel could I have witnessed?

Very interesting, thanks for sharing. Can it be proven that trees feel/think? Is there cognition?

I have about 10 turkeys spending time in a hemlock grove in my back yard. I am going to feed them and see if they will stay this winter. I think the challenge for this plan will be today, it’s snowing and I have not seen them yet. I just love their personalities!

I saw a nuthatch fly onto my bird feeder, where it hung upside-down, motionless, for almost two minutes. I thought it had choked, but it flew off when I went outside to check on it. It returned soon after, collecting peanuts as usual. Was it reacting to a nearby predator?

A yr. ago tonight (Nov. 11, 2017) we first spotted an opossum on one of our birdfeeders.  Our yard backs onto wooded area, although we live in town.  We now have 2 opossums regularly visit our feeders.  Also flying squirrels.  Night time has become just as busy as day at our bird feeders!

What a great idea. Anyone who works in the woods works alone most of the time, unseen by the people who depend on the bounty of the forest whether that bounty is wood, wildlife or clean water.

Mike, if your fridge is cold it’s likely fine. Pour off the blood, seal, and freeze. You would have been better off vacuum sealing right away—that’s what I’d do in the future.

I’m leaving my venison in the frig for 5 days or until I get the CWD results back. Just put in baggies not vacuum-sealed. Do I need to rinse the blood out building up in the bags? Will the meat be OK?

In the late fall of 2017, on a cold night, I went into one of my sheds and saw something run out of the eve. I stood there and as it started to come back in,  it looked like a mouse to me. Then it stepped in and I saw it was a small squirrel. Then two more came in. I was only about four or five feet away.
They didn’t seem very scared of me. So I went to get some sunflower seeds. I went in the shed, and they just stood there. I put some seed on the shelf. They came right down and started to eat them. I put some seeds in my hand one jumped in my hand and just sat there eating. The next night I went in again,  sure enough they were there.  I hand feed them again. Then later in the winter, they seemed to multiply. At one point I had thirteen (that I could count in sight) eating out of my hand. I kept feeding them every night all winter long.

Then about April 2018 some of them seemed to disappear. Only two or three hung around.  I kept feeding them every day. Most of the summer of 2018 I had some of them every night.  Then as of November 2018 as the temperature keeps dropping more are showing up. The last two weeks as I walked up to feed them,  they would fly from tree to tree following me to the shed. All I had to do was to call them and whistle.

Tonight Nov 5th as I went to feed them, it is about thirty nine degrees out. I got almost to the shed, and four flew onto a tree right next to me. They went to the shed and we’re waiting for me when I went in.

I would like to know what else I can feed them other than sunflower seeds. 

Dave

On 11/2/18, noticed a gray tree frog attached to outside of door glass. Stayed for a few min. Left for a few min. Returned higher up on glass for a few minutes, left and returned higher again. Got good photos from both sides. Never seen one here before. Seemed to be drawn to insects near outside deck light.

Amadis - without knowing your circumstances, a general note that opossums are wild animals, and we don’t encourage keeping them as pets! But to answer the question - they are very vulnerable to cold weather, and it’s not uncommon for them to get frostbite on their ears and tails.

I know this is a older article but it answered my question. I run a small woodshop that makes wooden urns. I have noticed the tops have shrunk slightly and came unglued. Red oak mostly.

I would like to know if my opossum can live in 30 to 35 degree weather at night.  I want to put it in a cage in my garden.  Within the cage I will put a little warm den but still, the cold will creep in.  Should I also add a warm light?

Dave, my sense, based on the writings of Bill Gove who was writing about logging in Vermont, is that the mid-1800s was when the up-and-down saws were replaced with circular saws. The up-and-down saws could handle big logs better (albeit slower), so in some places they had both styles. It could be your mill was one such place.

After listening to a recording of the saw whet, I recognized the sound. What I thought was a truck reverse alarm at a nearby quarry, was really a saw whet. Trucks load at night sometimes. Thank you for adding to my knowledge of this delightful creature.

Live on site once with sawmill. Earliest date of use (from diary entry of person living 8 miles away= 1818. apparently operated at least to turn of the century, but (newspaper article) indications are that by 1927 it was no longer functional.  Suspect it was horizontal blade (up/down) but 1850 inventory reported a 24” circular blade. Seems too small? 

Great article. As I was reading it, I was being stared at by a saw-whet on my shelf. This bird was mounted more than 25 years ago near my house in NH and was used in my wife’s school for many years until she retired. I found this bird dead at roadside in February and got permission from US Fish & Wildlife to have it mounted. Re your article, I found the bird on a February morning. Wonder why it hadn’t migrated?

Thank you, Brett, for a delightful and fact-filled article on these small owls (and published in one of my favorite magazines, too)!

I’ve had a pet painted turtle for over 10 years and a RES almost 4. A friend of mine brought me a baby snapper about a month ago he found in his yard, I took a risk and put it in with my other two turtles.

My 10 year old female midland painted (wild capture as a hatchling) is very social with both people and other turtles. In the four years she’s had a juvenile wild capture red ear slider male as a tank mate (approximately 3 years old when I caught him), I have never seen any aggressive behavior, even during feeding. She socializes with the RES, they “flirt” with each other frequently but she’s been rather indifferent with the baby snapper.

The male RES is a different story. Having spent the first three or so years of its life as a wild turtle, he’s not the “finger-safe” turtle the painted female is. While he’s not fond of human interaction, he’s bonded with the baby snapper, they’re thick as thieves. They bask together on their island, if the baby snapper isn’t swimming next to the RES when he’s swimming around in their tank it’s riding on the shell of the RES. Every time I pick the little bugger up out of the tank, Scooter (the RES) disregards his usual shyness and swims up close to watch what I’m doing with his little buddy. When the little one is put back into the tank, his behavior is similar to that of a mother hen.