Site Discussions

I just found a Butternut tree that has fallen (leaned) into my yard. It’s still alive but touching the ground. don’t know if I should just cut it down or would somebody want to look at it first to save nuts for future trees.
We live in Milton.
Bernard Dubois

I saw my very first opossum last night here in Barre, Vermont. He was so quiet he made me jump. I have never seen one here till then. I have been in my apartment 6 years.

We have a pair of harriers that stopped in and perch in a hemlock tree about 30 feet from our front porch. We have a very wooded lot that is home to various hawks, barred owls, and someone hit a bald eagle in the road by our house this spring.

Take a look at the Pine Barrens of NJ. A million acres of unique ecology that exists nowhere else in the world at this level. Rare orchids, Pitcher plants, and other carnivorous plants are just some of the fascinating flora found in this area. It is home to some species that are not found anywhere else in the world.

This is a fantastic article! I, too, love tardigrades — those funky little creatures and their charms are such a fascinating area of study, and their resilience is truly impressive.

Thank you Elizabeth Crotty, for such a descriptive and enlightening article on tardigrades. Those cryptobiosis features are definitely worth having sleepless nights over. It was fun reading and learning about these odd but amazing creatures.

I read an article about tardigrade research in British Columbia a few years ago, but I’d forgotten about how wonderful they are until I read this and was reminded. Thank you.

Wow!  Perhaps the most fascinating article in a long, long time.
Thank you.

Luna moth was perched under my garage door outside light. I turned off the light so it would move on to find a mate; in their short adult life there isn’t time for them to waste. They are just beautiful and huge!! I was surprised how huge they really are in person.

I have a cherry tree which this year has produced a side growth which has no resemblance to the cherry tree. Nothing has been grafted to it, do you have any idea what may have happened. Thank you.
Andrew James Pearson.

Thank you. Your article helped my wife and I as she yelled at me to hurry and come see this insect. She said she thought she found the Queen Ant. I asked if it had wings and she replied no but it was different.  Like a spider and ant mated to form this new species.  It looked just like and ant, but had 8 legs and what eventually gave it away was when I used its web to lower itself down inside a jar we had on the counter.  I was able to take a close up picture and reverse search but nothing came up until I google “spiders that look like ants” and found this article.  Very cool.

The house wrens in my area are horrible. They threw out the cardinal eggs and and Carolina wren eggs and the chickadee babies. I no longer allow them to nest in my yard because they kill everything!

A really nicely written and informative article.  This article should be shared with all New England states and their communities to not only inspire mountain biking friendly development but to show that when groups and individuals that have similar ideas great community dividends can happen in a positive way.  It’s good too that this article did mention that there can be hurdles and through positive work by everyone on all sides of a given issue, the hurdle can be overcome for everyones benefit.

I believe I saw a marten crossing Winn Street in Burlington MA earlier today. At first I thought it was a fisher, but the body was a tawny brown with a dark brown tail.

I read the first few sentences and said “this must be by Susie Spikol, lover of the lowly beasts.” Thanks for the inspiration!

I was born 1933.  I have been remembering as a very small child in Groveton, NH, my father working in the woods somewhere as a cook. I found your article so interesting wondering if my Dad was there.  He often talked of Nash Stream bog. As a family we had a camp there before some dam went out. Maybe wrong about place but thanks for such a wonderful article.

I have not seen Robert Kimber’s articles recently. I so enjoy his perspective and miss them. Is he still a contributor?

Thank you and kind regards,

Chris

This is one of the very best and most interesting articles I’ve ever read in your magazine!

My 60+ year old beech tree has the disease. Most of the leaves are turning brown and falling off. The trunk looks healthy. The arborists suggested cutting it down.  Should I leave it alone? And for how long? It’s a nice tree. Please advise.

Just found the diseased leaves on all of the baby beech trees in the woods on my property. So sad.