Site Discussions

I have 2 1-year-old Japanese red maple trees I potted last year. I brought them indoors when it started to get cold outside, and they got rid of their leaves in my apartment. They have been indoors in my warm apartment all winter long. They are now growing leaves again. I don’t think the cold timeline has anything to do with them regrowing their leaves. It may be a certain type of sunlight that influences regrowth?

MJ Grace: Your point about tax benefits is an important one. Some easements are purchased using public funds, some are partially underwritten through income tax deductions, and some involve no public money at all. None that I know of include property tax reductions.

Everyone I spoke with would agree with you that public money necessitates public review. But what about the easements that don’t involve public money? Should these also follow the same review process for simplicity’s sake, or would they benefit from being treated as a different type of easement with different amendment procedures? To date, the conservation community has preferred to treat both types similarly, though that could change depending on how the IRS decides to handle the amendment question.

-Chuck Wooster

I have found that rubbing vaseline into the end cuts prevents checking and cracking in green handles. Hope this helps. Do this shortly after cutting to length, before the wood begins to dry.

The way I look at it, if either or both parties have asked for and received tax benefits due to the easement (e.g. exemption from property taxes granted to qualified organizations for the rights they own) it is unfair for the parties to then amend the easement without public input as the public has given up those taxes for a period of time. 

When my grandfather was 15 years old, around 1875, he supposedly was running a little business selling hemlock bark to tanneries in NE Pennsylvania. Later he made considerable money in Minnesota (1890’s) operating white pine lumber camps. Then he lost his money. So here I sit.

Sophie - My experience is that fisher is hard to get without baiting. Confirm fisher presence by snow tracking, then look for fallen logs or at the base of snags where it looks like something has been digging or tearing away. It just might be a fisher digging for rodents!

David - Agree, end of beaver dam is an excellent camera placement. I’ve been experimenting with videos lately, too. You’re right - videos give insight on behaviors you wouldn’t otherwise observe.

Bob - Glad you enjoyed the article! You are so lucky to have a 100 acres of your very own. In that case, placement along a trail is an excellent idea, because some animals do use human trails, especially in winter where we humans have trampled down the snow. However, if it’s not your own property, placement along a trail can quickly result in theft. I didn’t get into camera brands in this article, but I use Moultries, too. I’ve had one out of 5 malfunction, but customer service quickly replaced it. Moultries are not top of the line, but good value for the money, in my opinion.

We tapped a maple in our backyard this past Sunday March 8, 2015 for the first time. The sap is freely flowing and we got almost 3 gallons within 24 hrs. Its a huge tree so we put in 3 taps. I cooked it down yesterday and it definitely has the metabolism off taste of popcorn. I was just wondering if that problem gets better as the season goes on or if this tree will continue to give that off flavor all season? Is there any reason I shouldn’t use it in recipes? Thanks so much for any advice. I can’t seem to find much info online about it.

I made a hammer handle from an oak limb I cut down from my tree that same day. It was beautiful. because it was green it shaped up so easily. Not bad for my first try. Was difficult to sand though, so I set it out overnight and by morning there was a huge check from stem to stern. What can I do to prevent this checking in the future? The handle was cut from a piece of wood about 2” thicker all the way around. Help I spent so much time on it.

This is a fun article to read. We have a “neighbor” porcupine that has been in the same den for a number of years in the woods in back of our house.  While backcountry skiing around Belknap Mountain (NH) we often see where the porcupines have used our skin tracks to access their own trails. They have areas in the hardwoods where the branches are stripped for 6’ to 8’.  I like having them around.

I spend a great deal of time working with urban trees where leaving CWD is often not an option given safety concerns. But when I’m out in the woods or walking back country roads, I love to study old trees and see the amazing role they provide in a healthy forest environment. Thanks for your continuously great magazine!

Worked for the Maine Forest Service in the 70’s and was on Bigalow in 73.(the highest mountain in Maine with a fire tower)  Spotted the last forest fire from that tower before it closed and trained last three watchmen that followed me.

My son in law and I watched a small swarm of bees in our front yard as they collected the sweet water from some soft drink cans that were lying in the yard. It’s the 8th of March 2015 and we have seen them throughout the winter on oddly warm days. We decided to see if we could find the hive and after several hours of watching and following their flight path we found what we were looking for about 30 feet up in a large red oak that a storm had broken the top out of. We really love the outdoors and enjoy reading your articles.

This one early morning I awoke to the cooing of a single Morning Dove. It’s rather a sad sound. I got up and he was sitting on my balcony rail all alone. Hence, the sad song. But….it was very comforting to have him sitting there even though he soon flew off. I shared a few minutes with this interesting little bird.

Recent papers suggest Vermont is largely composed of the Dashwoods terrane (small land mass) which separated from the Laurentia (proto N America) and then was pushed back during the Taconic orogeny (mountain buliding episode). Next terrane to smash into the coast was called Ganderia, which had earlier split apart from Amazonia (later to become part of South America) and formed much of New Hampshire during the Salinic orogeny.  Much sea floor and Island chains, (including Bronson Hills), was scooped up during these events.  Next terrane to collide was Avalonia which had split from what would become Africa, this formed SE New Hampshire. Next came Meguma and finally Africa proper during the Allegheny orogeny; these had more effect to the South of VT and NH.  Details are still debated but it is obviously much more complicated than just a collision between African, Europe and N America.

Really enjoyed your article. I have five game cams in our woodlot of about 100 acres. Usually keep them on the ATV trails for easy access and not surprising, much of the wildlife use the trails in deference to having to go through brush.  I have some huge boulders on the property, so I am going to keep your suggestions in mind for game cam placements.

I have a red fox and also get fishers visiting periodically. And of course, deer, coyotes, racoons and wild turkeys.  It is amazing what is going on in the woodland when I am not around.

Have not checked cams in six weeks because of snow depth, and inability to access trails as ATV cannot get through snow this deep.  Hopefully some pleasant surprises when I finally make it up there. Have used a number of game cams, and have decided Moultrie is one of the more reliable ones.  Have a Bushnell which I like, but only a year old and got a new 150 degree,panoramic cam last fall. I like the pics, but too early to really assess.

Bob Wood

I have a large possum living in my shed overhang who seems to have frostbite on tail -  lacking some fur on his back . He is also eating my bird seed; I see his tracks each day.

I have a compost pile , even during Winter. He has been there also. My family had seen one last year, not sure it’s the same one.

I would suggest a wildlife camera to anyone that enjoys learning about their environment. The wildlife camera takes color during the daytime and with infrared, black and white in the dark, and most of the shots are in the dark.

I use the two minute video selection and, that way, I am able to see the way that animals move without humans present, since all my previous views of animals were either them standing still looking at me or of their hindquarters running away from me.

Except for bobcat and bear, I have excellent video of all the animals you mention and more. Just inside the forest on the sunny side of a two acre meadow and at one end of a beaver dam are where some of my best shots are framed. It’s amazing how busy our woods are at night!

I’m really looking for evidence of that rumored Fisher. But a Mountain Lion would do! :)

Sophie, getting a bobcat on random placement is pretty darn lucky! Yes, I too have found that deer and raccoon, as well as coyotes and blue jays, are quite curious about the camera. I have many out of focus closeups of these creatures.

I did a series of species inventories at my local park and having a trail camera gave me proof of what I knew was around the wooded parcel. Some of the deer and raccoons seemed curious about the night flash which made for a few interesting images. One random camera placement also produced an image of a Bobcat using the area. It is also fun to see who wanders through the backyard to clean up the bird food that falls from the feeders.

A fun toy!