Site Discussions

The lack of snowpack over the last 20 years breaks my heart. Yes, I miss xc skiing out my back door, but what truly scares me is the effect this is having on our environment. I worry about the ancient maples in my front yard with no blanket of snow to speak of, the subnivean critters, exposed to the severe cold we’ve had this past week, and the future weather patterns we ar facing. I wish our government would take climate change seriously and show some leadership.

Great article. Finally, someone is starting to talk about the catastrophic loss of winter in the only sense that really matters - loss. Not “transition,” or “change,” but loss, period. Anyone who does not feel a deep sense of loss and grief over the human destruction of winter is not fully human as far as I’m concerned.

I have to take exception to a couple points, however. There will be no snow at all in the American northeast by 2100; Vermont will have the climate of NE Alabama by 2050, if not sooner. For a number of understandable reasons the IPCC models are far too conservative, as has been repeatedly shown in real world measurement over the past ten years. Climate change is not linear, and its rate of acceleration is increasing as can be plainly seen over the past five years. Models and studies that necessarily rely on past data significantly underestimate Earth’s climate sensitivity and are poor predictors of future outcomes.

This is important because we need to understand and prepare for actual outcomes, not convenient fictions. However much emotionally desired or data driven, these are not accurate understandings of future reality. It is indeed much worse than anyone wants to admit or think about. This is not “doomer” talk; it’s the reality we’ve created, and if we’re to be reality based this must be the framework for these kinds of discussions, which for many if not most of us requires acknowledgement and acceptance of something noone wants to acknowledge or accept. In that vein, Jim Henson’s 2023 paper, “Global Warming In the Pipeline,” should be required reading for everyone in the environmental field. 

Again, great article. This is why I love this magazine.

This is somewhat similar to the northward migrations of backyard feeder birds such as tufted titmice and red bellied woodpeckers. These southern birds are now being sighting throughout New England. Similarly to opossums, these expansions probably have to do with greater winter survival rates due to the availability of foods, such as bird seed and beef suet, in urban, suburban, and rural backyards.

A few years back, we saw a dead opossum on the road shortly before avoiding two that were very much alive. Strangely, the opossum pair appeared to be travelling together.

Surprisingly, this was near Lancaster in northern New Hampshire, which is north of Littleton.
This was well north of central New Hampshire, so a significant sighting suggesting that they are indeed migrating north.

Eastern newt toxins might be specific to vertebrates, especially fish.
Supposedly, though, crayfish also avoid them.

We have a possum living in our backyard this winter, midcoast Maine.

Thank you Tim! That sounds like a nice diversity of pine cones!

Wonderfully written, engaging article. Thank you very much.

Great stuff again, Tim. Congrats on another byline!

Lovely article. Thank you!

Are they a source of food for birds in late winter?

What a gift Lisa is to this organization and this state! The Cooperators program blows one’s mind open to all the aspects of owning a woodland and teaches us to treasure that. Over the years Lisa has expanded the offerings of Coverts so there is something for all of us, including, as she mentioned, those of us who can’t nip around the woods anymore. I feel such gratitude for the years I was able to wander in my woods with my late husband and now am blessed that my son has come to know them better too. So thank you Lisa for all you do!

I am a forest steward in Northwestern New Jersey, and have gone to our version of a 3-4 day educational program.  I would love to join your bookclub, and maybe start one up with my group.  This magazine is amazing.  I look forward to the photos.  But this column, hearing the stories of the LUCKY folk who get to work outdoors and know so much about the land, is exceptional.  Thank you.

It would be great to have a list of the books your group has read and plan to read.

A beautifully written and informative article about winter fireflies. I’m looking forward to reading this to our grandchildren and looking for some winter fireflies. We find tons of fireflies in the summer but have never seen one in winter.

Lisa Sausville is such a force - a velvet steamroller! Her energy, organizational skills, and positive outlook have created such an important resource for Vermont landowners to connect them with organization, infomration, and people to help them manage their land for wildlife.

Lovely article. I have several small gatherings of cones, a few of each, around my home - Black Spruce, White Pine, Red Pine, Eastern Hemlock, and Eastern White Cedar - my best decorations!

Hi Tiffany,

I liked your piece written about moles and shrews. It helped inspire the poem below. I’ve taken the side of the earthworms, as you hopefully can see.

John Ellis

Under the Garden

A dark chamber,
and you can’t move,
hemmed in by
hostages, limp
and still alive.

Someone said,
they build larders,
catch for fun,
and once they bite,
you can’t move.

Someone heard,
the very earth
is squeezed out
from your body,
before they consume.

Soon the bodies
fall into tunnels.
You hear screams,
lie in terror.
Wait your turn,
and you can’t move.

Robert, my friend sent this article to me and I enjoyed it immensely.  A native New Englander ( the Berkshires of Mass), I too was an outdoor kid.  I miss the beauty of New England often. I have just ordered “Stone on Stone” and can’t wait to dig into it. We have a lot in common - I too was part of the first Earth Day (I’m 73) and a UCONN grad (masters in 1980). Who knows, we may have bumped into each other rushing to class!  Claudia

I have long been fascinated by stone walls in Connecticut, their beauty, and the fact some poor soul, many years ago, broke his back, from dawn til dusk, year after year, cleared his land of the litter left by the glacier many millennia ago! Just so he could plant crops to feed his family!