Site Discussions

We have been tapping earlier every year and last year (2018) we tapped the first week of January and the sap was already flowing as we had 3 January thaws. The sap flow started and stopped all season and we were done by the first week in April. The Walnut trees we also tap never produce the sap that the Sugar Maples do.

Why is it that in late fall when overnight temps are bellowing freezing the 4-8” diameter stones on a woods road (or hiking trail), appear to sink about 1” below the slightly frozen surface of the road or trail?
Thanks-
Jim

Fascinating. Your writing makes such a little creature seem so grand. Go, Caterpillar, go!

T Just match the pitch and gauge of the existing chain and it should work, albeit without having the anti kickback features of the recommended chain.

The first week that we moved into our new home at which no one had lived at this home sight for many years our dog Hanna saw and ran after a porcupine I called hanna back before she got to it and put her in the house.  I then went back with a rifle to where the porcupine was (which was close to the house) it turned around and looked at me.

As we both stood and looked at each other I started talking to it, telling it that I did not want to kill it but if I was not there when my dog went after you the dog would have been full of quills. I then told it that we would be living here now and if it would stay away from the house I would not kill it.

For about two years it was never seen then one day when we were out on the front lawn a porcupine was coming slowly up to us I walked up to it and could see only it’s front legs were working it was dragging itself with its front legs and in pain I then knew what it wanted. To this day over 40 years later I keep wondering could it be the same one That I talked to in the past?

I am not sure that a porcupine would find much favor with my neighbors - maybe less than the chipmunks and squirrels, occasional skunks, infrequent opposums, and just three visits bears have found in my suburban neighborhood… in any event we try to give them our respect as it is we who are the newcomers to New England. Your article is a lesson in respect - in life and in death. Thank you.

What a lovely story. I have had several memorable encounters with porcupines around my house. One porky who came by must have been old and blind. I could walk up to him and he didn’t seem to notice. Eventually, he chose to sit down and take a nap in the middle of the afternoon—right beside my deck, which made for a great photo op. Another time, at night, a mom and her porcupette paused just off my deck to nurse for awhile. I could just make them out in the light cast from a window. Once again, I enjoyed 20 minutes or so to take photos of this pair.  When a friend had visited years earlier with her small dog, there was not such a happy scene. After it took 3 of us to hold the dog down and pull out the quills.  And wouldn’t you know it…. first thing the dog did the next morning was go right back to the same place to look for that thing it had encountered the night before!

Are you proposing we replace white tails with kangaroos? (lead-off photo!!)  :)

Found one in our pool in FL. Put him outside the enclosure where bugs also roam. He seemed lethargic. Why was he not burrowed in somewhere. Will it survive in 30 degree weather?

Good introduction to the question of forest cover in Iceland. Thanks

I have at least 60 american brown toads living in my mulch around my home. You see them on cloudy days, rainy days and at night. They have some of these little houses to dig burrows for hibernation and escape summer heat. They are great in getting rid of Japanese beetles that fall to ground. It is too bad these brown toads cannot climb up to roses. They would have a huge feast.

Great article, Brett! I have always been curious about squirrels that seem to go berserk in a particular pile of mulch or leaf mold like cats with catnip. They somersault, leap, bounce off nearby objects, then roll in the delicious stuff some more. Not intoxication, but whatever it is it makes them giddy.

I read that flying squirrels can transmit Typhus…is this true?

I just discovered a toad in my basement, no clue how it got there - perhaps when the hatchway was open during recent furnace cleaning. 
He was in front of the clothes dryer and on my approach, hopped underneath it.  I live in a wooded area with pond and fiields nearby. It’s 40 degrees out.  We’ve had some nights in single digits already. Not sure what to do with this guy if I can catch him.  Forecast is for 40’s next few days, and there’s plenty of mole activity around my property, is it safe to put him out?

My friend attempted to eat a wooly worm. She was unsuccessful and currently has the hairs of the wooly worms stuck in the roof of her mouth her tongue and her gums. Her mouth is inflamed and she’s having a hard time swallowing. We are tried to remove the hairs with tweezers and even tried to use an exacto knife to cut them out. So this is just a warning to everyone do not attempt to eat a wooly worm.

I can’t say I’m that fond of them. I had beautiful -singing mockingbirds in my backyard Hawthorne tree for 2 years running. Blue jays showed up and seemed to take over. I found eggs,babies, and even a dead mockingbird in my back alley. The mockingbirds have moved to the neighbor’s tree and I’m left with these irritating blue jays with their comparatively ugly cry. They seem not willing to share my small backyard with any other bird.

Please, I need help in reaching someone who can guide me. We have Wood Turtles in danger in Woodbury CT due to a Dollar General wanting to build on a site. The town is fighting this on many levels but I am especially concerned about the Wood Turtles that will be imperiled. Can you please tell me who I can contact? It will have dire enviornmental impacts not only to the Wood Turtle and other species but also to the pure Pomperaug Watershed. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Zoning has not yet approved this.

We have had flying squirrels in our attic probably for the last 2 years.  We would even hear them in the walls of the 2nd floor. If I knocked on the wall while they were asleep during the day they would make a scurrying sound then calm down again. When I went up to see how they were getting in, it was pretty obvious as there was a hole in the thin roof vent screen at the end of the gable.  These guys weren’t scared of me at all.. I would go to the attic to see what i could see, turn on the lights, and one would just come scurrying up from the insulation in the wall and just stare at me.  I started putting some dry dog food nuggets on the plywood floor to see if they would take them, which they did.
Eventually, the scurrying sounds in the walls started being heard on the 1st floor, and in the eves of our overhanging porch.  This was simply too much for my wife, so it was time to try to get rid of them.  I put up a Wifi camera so I could observe their habits going in and out of the hole. At the time I thought I only had 4.  I saw 2 go out of the hole, so I went up and sealed the hole, then put down a humane trap to get the other 2.  It took less than 10 minutes to catch the first one, he was really cute, didn’t seem too alarmed, he even sat there eating the rest of the peanut butter after the trap door snapped closed!  These guys are very chill!  I released it in my back yard, where I think they also are living in a hollowed out stump, at least that’s where he ran to immediately.  I went through the same routine with the second one, then noticed in my video feed 2 more crawling around.
Needless to say, it is now 3 days later and I have caught a total of 20 so far and released them outside.  I’m pretty sure they aren’t getting back in, I added a much stronger screen, and things are sounding much calmer at night, so their numbers MUST be decreasing, right?  It is late November and I hope they survive by finding another home in that stump or some other natural protection.  They are the cutest things, I started releasing them from the trap at a height of 5 feet and watch them glide to safety each time.
Pete
Collegeville, PA

Hi, will the bark on a log cut in the fall loosen up by spring?
Thank you,
Fran

Slides are pretty solid evidence it’s an otter. The males especially are wanderers—one Alaskan study documented males with a home range greater than 125 square miles—and they will often travel over land to get from one flowage to the next.