Site Discussions

I saw one last night on our kitchen window where the light had been on for a couple hours. Temperature as 31F. Amazing!!

I love this story of the flunker moth.

Very helpful information to help me identify the tracks in the riverbank of the Nanticoke River. 
If you have comparisons of muskrat and beaver, that would help a lot too!

Please consider doing an article on the Maple Moth. They always show up in the sap buckets!

Uncertain if backlean would work for me. High winds past several years have shifted lots of trees on the front face of windbreak. Most roots have been pulled out. Tree, roots and all…...no disease.

These trees are leaning on other small trees. About 15% angle.

Neighbor said just cut pulled-out roots. I don’t think that will work.

Would love to see illustration how to cut.

Much deep thanks!

The Long Island Pine Barrens are being devastated by this beetle. Its awful. So sad.

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?