Site Discussions

Thank you, you answered a lot of my questions.  I found one of the short tailed shrews dead this morning on my walk and it seemed as if it just dropped dead for no reason.

Hi Libby,

The bird had pretty well tired itself out trying to shake the mussel off and I was able to drift along the shore and scoop it with my kayak paddle.

Once I had it, I just pried the mussel open with a pocket knife.

Hi Libby, great question. My understanding is that the kingfisher was exhausted and quite easy to simply pick up. I have forwarded your other question to Mr. Kelly and perhaps he’ll provide an answer. Thanks for the questions.

Thank you so much for such an interesting article on Eastern Elk in the United States. One of my research topics is the deer painted in Albert Bierstadt’s “Gosnold at Cuttyunk, 1602” (1858). That deer looks Elk or Red Deer in its shape of antlers, but the place is in the vicinity of New Bedford, Mass. I wonder if Elk or Red Deer actually inhabited in New England in the early 17th century. Since I am not a biologist, but literature scholar, It’s very difficult for me to judge it. Thanks.

Not having seen the earlier reference, how did Rich Kelly catch the Kingfisher?  And how did he release the muscle from its death grasp?

We have had our hummingbird moth for 3 years in a row.  He loves all of my phlox.  He shows up in the evening while I’m watering my flowers. Have taken dozens of pictures because most people have never seen one.

I enjoyed reading about Lucienne and the important work she is doing.  Growing up as a white kid in a small city, I loved a large nearby park that gave me a touch of the natural world.  Later on, hiking and family camping trips introduced me to much more and helped me to develop a lifelong love of the outdoors.  Lucienne is making a big difference in the lives of the kids she is working with.

I saw the primrose moth for the first time this week.  I love wildflowers and have a ‘garden’ of primrose in the side yard. I am astounded at the specification of this moth and flower. It is thrilling!

I’m very happy to see this excellent article in Northern Woodlands and hope that Lucienne Nicholson has nothing but success in her important work.

Excellent article! Good for her! Having grown up in a mixed community in NJ and been a Girl Scout many years ago, it never dawned on me until very recently that people of color did not feel welcome in outdoor places. She has brought it home beautifully and without rancor. I will think differently now.Thank you for publishing this!

Thank you so much for this article which contains pertinent information for each insect covered. I was able to identify the caterpillars that were munching away on my kitchen window sill parsley plants as Black Swallowtail. I had just purchased the them 2 weeks previously and never thought to look for butterfly eggs. Also, some years ago in my urban Monarch Way Station garden, I observed an amazing-looking moth with transparent wings basking on the stepping stone next to my Buddelia. I was able to identify it as the Snowberry Clearwing and am truly sorry to say that I saw it only the one time. Again, thank you for the enjoyment I received from learning about these particular creatures.

Excellent piece, thank you!  Sally M. is a North Country treasure who is doing tremendous work.

There’s no doubt land conservation has been a huge success in the Northern Forest with 6 million acres, or almost a quarter of the entire region, conserved.  

But not so for the goal of rebuilding the region’s economic vibrancy.  In the past 25 years the population has fallen in many Northern Forest sub-regions (for example, Coos County NH), town centers have hollowed out (Berlin, Whitefield), social and demographic metrics have worsened (look at Coos County vs. NH state averages) and, no surprise, young people have been leaving for better opportunities elsewhere.

How are we to assess the overall Northern Forest effort when the critical regional economy component has largely failed?

And now that land conservation has been a success and economic redevelopment has failed, what is to be done?

The answer is unlikely to be motorized recreation.  

To us, motorized recreation is another short- to medium-term economic revival dream similar in many ways to the flawed mega-projects cast as saviors.  

Just like a new prison, new transmission line or new solid waste facility, the key to motorized recreation is that the North Country is selling out “siting rights” at a sharp discount.  In economic theory, it’s just another extractive industry.

The endless stream of pickups pulling side-by-sides and sleds up the interstates are coming from further south where these activities would be shunned (and couldn’t be sited) if they reached scale.  So they come up here instead and over-use cheap North Country public goods.  

Are we “smart” for mispricing the siting rights?  And will our motorized recreation payoff survive the transition to a non-carbon economy any better than the biomass plants?

New approaches are needed.  To use the terms from the article, perhaps it’s time to move past the tired “divide” between “outsiders” and “locals”.  

This divide may be old news.  We see it less and less in today’s world where classifications are suspect, populations are always in flex and, most important, relationships, communities, ideas, movement of capital and value creation are no longer hemmed in by physical locations.

As one example, is the new trend to remote working a Northern Forest opportunity?

Maybe focus public funds and the creativity of our best and brightest on designing and building broadband, other infrastructure and critical mass minimums in key services that would attract remote workers (yes, “outsiders”) to our region?

Done well, and depending on whether the transition to remote work is a lasting trend (an open question), creating successful magnet areas for remote workers could bring a spending power that would dwarf motorized recreation and might start to transform local economies.

Why not launch a crash program to set up a few of these on a trial basis to see if they work and can persist?

This could be a public/private partnership.  For private landowners considering land conservation, would it be equally valuable and socially responsible to look at land use initiatives that would attract remote workers?  Say a 100-acre cluster development with common areas and amenities close to a town center in the midst of 2,000 acres of preserved land?

Done right, with respect for the land and in recognition of the benefits to all (“locals” included) of more diverse and strong communities, could this be a step beyond the old “divide”?  A step in the new direction of breaking down “the space between”?

Jeanne, thank you. Our assistant editor Meghan McCarthy McPhaul manages the series, and our amazing long-term artist for the series is Adelaide Tyrol. Check out her website! http://adelaidetyrol.com/

I love this feature “Outside Story”. I love the entire newsletter, actually but I wish to express my great admiration of the illustrator. I cannot make out the person’s name. Just lovely artwork. Thank you.

About 3 years ago, I had just backed out of a driveway on Spear St in East Charlotte,  close to the south end of Spear St. A very large cat, the size of the biggest Labrador retriever, was slowly crossing the road just in front of me. I stopped the car. He/she didn’t seem interested in me at all. He/she was all one color, the color of a yellow lab or female lion. He/she had a distinctly cat face with round cat ears, not bobcat ears. His tail was long. His body was longer than a dog’s body. He/she was muscular and moved gracefully in a loping manner. I have since been on safari in Botswana, Africa where I saw lionesses. He/she looked a lot like a lioness. At the time, I was so astounded that I immediately looked up “mountain lion” on my phone and what I saw was exactly the same. I have also seen bobcats in my yard. They look very different from what I saw. This cat was MUCH larger, totally different ears, all one color, long tail.

A pair of mourning doves have nested in one of my hanging geranium baskets on my front porch for two summers now.  The second of two chicks just left the nest today.  It has been so interesting and heartwarming watching the mother and father care for their two babies.

The parents even became used to me watering the the geraniums in their basket while sitting on the eggs….....not even moving when I was doing so.  Amazing!  (Of course I was careful to try and not flood the nest)

Just another of our Creator’s amazing creations!

I have a couple of foxes I’ve been feeding for almost three years now. This year a smaller one has shown up with what I believe is mange on its tail. I really want to help it out but am afraid the other two will get the meds as well. I’ve noticed this one coming early to eat but sometimes the other ones come and chase off the little one. Any ideas will be appreciated.

On July 16 2020,I spotted something on my flower. It was the first time I saw or even knew there was such a thing as a hummingbird moth. Very interesting. I only saw it for about 2 minutes.

On Saturday 7-27-2020 my two grandchildren dipped a water scorpion from a small lake in central Maryland.  It was quite impressive and totally black in color.  I can send a picture it via text if you like. We released it unharmed.

I have loved watching my Phoebes who return year after year to a well established nest under my deck.  My anxiety is that I am due for deck repair and staining and don’t want to disturb them if they are raising another brood.  Help?