Site Discussions

I too was born on Feb 3rd and I too will use the balance of man and nature to teach my 8 month old son many of these virtues. Thanks for your reflective piece. Always enjoy hearing your perspective on things.

Beautiful essay, Dave.  I feel inspired to write my own for my daughter who has not yet celebrated her first birthday.

I have been remiss in renewing my subscription. Your heartfelt piece got me back on track and I am current again. Congratulations on the birth of your daughter. Enjoy the journey!

Lovely, as always, Dave. Very best wishes to the whole family.

No discussion…just a great piece.  Thanks for writing.

Very nice Dave, you got me all choked up! I am a carpenter,farmer,beekeeper,sugar maker, and the father of two beautiful daughters. They are grown and have started families of their own, so far one beautiful granddaughter! I spent many hours in a stream in Warren with those two girls when they were little. They grew up knowing the joys of being outside,working on the farm, helping with the bees, but now have professional lives on the outskirts of Boston. I know they treasure those memories of just the things you mentioned. Thanks for stirring up some great memories for me. Gib

Has anyone had any experience where crows seek you out in different regions? I started by calling them with an app and feeding corn or nuts in my yard. Now, no matter where I go, they gather to me. Often people say they have never had crows there before. They use a specific call, and fight pattern too. We call it my fly-by. They also recognize my car and follow me to hike after work. I’m curious about knowledge of how they communicate..

Thanks for this short but information packed article. I often wondered why not use living fenceposts? Thanks to you I have some good ideas on just how to do it.

Are bear remains or bones difficult to find beyond hunting or trapping kills in the wild?

I am skinning peeling pine logs freshly cut today Jan. Plan on making a teepee/tipi. My logs are 3” at base and 20’ long….Have just starting peeling bark off with machete…Any suggestions on how to treat timber?

Another fabulous article in the weekly newsletter! Just enough tantalizing info to make anyone want to know more without killing us with too much science right off the bat!  Almost just kidding. My favorite barks in childhood included pines in central NC that had plates of bark we would peel them off to use as play money. And another favorite was, of course, the ginormous beech that had generations of graffiti on it… and taught us many things that were not taught in school!!  One of my favorites barks here in snow country is that of red twig dogwood (cornus services ‘cardinal’).  The red is marvelous against the muted winter colors, especially when there are fields and fields of it.  One bark that I never liked through the years I lived in AZ was palo verde. Never did like chartreuse.

I had one last night go under my porch. 1-27-17. I have a video of one from October of last year by my garden.

Thanks for this mink article. A family of mink frequent a river near my house & they’re a joy to see- so graceful!

I don’t know about you guys I could do without the skunks. One have squirted and it really is strong and offensive.

A local farmer friend has been seeing a large mink in his barns this winter, helping out to curb his rat population. How neat is this, an all-natural rat control . PS enjoy your magazine articles. Thanks.

Great article! We own a farm in SE Wisconsin on which we have a 100 acre shallow water marsh on which we hunt waterfowl. Often on on way to our south boat landing driving on the farm driveway at 3:30 a.m. in our headlights woodcock fly up in front of us and land on the hood of my Suburban. The bird rides there for 100 yards or so and then flies off. This happened to me several times and also to my son with his vehicle. We laugh and claim since we are heading south on the driveway they hitch a ride on their migration.

I learned a lot but am concerned. There’s a pond near me that has thousands of polliwogs in different stages but mostly in the early bullfrog polliwog stage. I believe there are so many they are over-crowded but at the same time I am catching great sized shiners too both very active its Jan.23rd I set 2 minnow traps both filled equally with polliwogs and shiners. Is this normal?

Great article. It make’s complete sense. Can’t believe I didn’t piece it together. My measurements kept being way off from what our township map showed which made it difficult finding my property corners on a steep sloped forest.
By using Pythagorean A*2+B*2=C*2 the measurements came out correct. And Rise/Run for slope. The distance on the map squared + the rise in elevation squared = the actual measured distance by hand squared. Just need distance numbers and elevation which most phones nowadays can give you a decent estimate. I tried it on my own property and it worked within a couple feet.

Once in a while, something comes along that’s a game changer for the small woodlot owner(s). In the case of Southern New England, it’s the Great Thicket National Wildlife Preserve. The program will purchase outright, purchase easements or accept donations of parcels within the area of the Preserve that are deemed of value to the program.  They will manage these parcels and take the burden/responsibility off the individual owner(s), while maintaining accessibility. To some of us, it appears to be a win/win opportunity.

Do Douglas firs, pines and other evergreens actually absorb water through their needles or leaves?