Site Discussions

I have seen a large cat out in our woods before but never thought about it much until neighbors started talking about seeing a catamount. This was about 11 years ago however there is still reports at the local store and school of siting off and on. 

My husband just called me from the road and told me that someone just hit a catamount on Route 4 near the Castleton exit. This was this morning at 7:30 on Jan 21, 2013.  He said that it was no house cat or dog or any other excuse people come up with to hide the fact that there are large cats here, it was a catamount. I hope to see it on the news later today.

Ahhh, we’ve got these buggers all over my mother’s property, rural pine forest with some firs, near the river. They get quite noisy in the summer! but I’ve never had one land on me or bite me, thankfully. Sounds painful!

Very informative, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your article. I was wondering if you knew of any books with images and methods for harvesting and utilizing these plants are available in authentic Abenaki tradition? Thanks in advance, Misty (Roaring Brook)

Today, January 18, 2013, I was driving east on Rte 105 about a mile outside of the village of Enosburg Falls.  A large cat ran across the road in front of my car.  It ran across the meadow towards the Missisquoi River.  The cat had a smooth reddish brown coat, no spots; a round face, small ears for the head size, and a large, long round tail.  It was about 30 to 36 inches high and about 6 to 7 feet long from head to tail tip with the tail almost the same length as the body.  I would say it weighed more then 80 pounds.  I call the Game warden who said they would take a look at tracks but reminded me that “officially” Catamount are extinct in this state.  I can’t say it was a Catamount, but I will say it was definitely more cougar then anything.  Definitely not Bobcat.  What I saw had no spots, a long tail, shorter ears then a bobcats.

Wood cannot be too dry in a catalytic. The smoke is eaten by the cat. I am getting my 2nd buck 91. Moved and had to leave the last one. Some stovemakers never got catalytic stoves right, but Buck did on this stove.

Gail,

Beech trees have male and female flowers on the same tree, so that wouldn’t be a reason. Typically, among trees that hang onto leaves after they’ve turned brown, it’s the younger ones that do this the most. You don’t often see leaves in winter way high up in a big beech tree. My guess is that it’s the usual small genetic variability that explains this. Beech and oak are believed to have originated in more southern climes and it’s been said that these species “have not yet perfected the deciduous habit.”

There are many beech trees behind our house.  Some drop their leaves in the fall & some hold on to some leaves until spring.  They seem to be the same type.  Wondering if some are male & some female.  If so, what is the purpose & which kind holds on to the leaves?

Great questions. I don’t know the answer to your first question, Jessica. On the second, Any given piece of wood has the same number of BTU’s whether it is green or dry, cut in summer or winter. Wet wood burns cooler because it’s using BTU’s to boil off the moisture. As for questions on lumber properties, I don’t know this for sure either, but check out this story we recently did on a similar subject: http://northernwoodlands.org/articles/article/wood-and-moisture

AnneLouise, check out this story on frost cracks: http://northernwoodlands.org/outside_story/article/does-frost-really-crack-trees

This was very helpful to me as I am buying a land that is sloped and I was wondering if, when I level it down, I would end up with less surface area, because I did not understand how land was measured. This now clarifies that it is not measures by the distant surface.

Thanks for this information; I have been wondering about it for years! And so, what happens- or rather why some trees, like Beech, crack during very cold winters? Do they get so frozen that they are not flexible enough when the wind blows?

Hi Ann,

If it were me, I’d be inclined to keep the weasels. They’ll do a better job killing the mice and rats than the cats will. Plus, barn cats can do a number on an ecosystem—they’re callously killing mice and birds and they don’t really need to because you’re feeding them. I’ve always seen barn cats as exotic invasive species—it doesn’t really seem fair to the wild animals in your ecosystem; the songbirds or the predators.

Having said that, I’m not your mother. So if you really want to kill the weasels, use rat traps—you can buy them in the hardware store. Put a trap under a bushel basket or in a shoe box so it won’t catch a cat. Cut a weasel-sized hole in the enclosure so a weasel can get in. Bait with something fresh and bloody. 

Does this have any implications in terms of cutting firewood in summer vs. winter?  If a tree is cut in winter, is the sweet/microporous wood going to dry more or less effectively than summer wood?  Is the energy available from a summer starchy log equivalent to a winter sugary log?  What about wood used for lumber or lathe/craft work?  Does wood from a tree cut in summer behave differently from winter cut wood?

Reads just like the classic nativist ideology “torch the invaders.”  How about asking why they are here?  What disturbance factors are at work on the system?  How to fill the niches?  What other plants should be promoted?  Eradication is unecological.  Let’s step up the conversation here a little, please.  And move beyond the old eradicate mentality. Not only does it not work, it’s fundamentally non-ecological.

Myself & several family members have seen a weasel in our barn, it is killing all our barn cats, who are pets, & are well feed & looked after. In the last 2 years, we have gone from 20 cats to 5; they have all had their necks ripped open, or are very wet & show bite marks at the neck. This is very sickening to all of us, we have tried live traps, different baits, plugging all the rat holes ( by the way, we have no rats or mice since the weasel moved in 2 years ago). Any suggestions? We really like our barn cats.

Thank you for your article, but I must comment on your description of Norway Spruce as “benignly” non native.  We are seeing Norways reseed in natural areas in New Jersey, adding yet another non native threat to our woodlands.

Enjoyed this insightful article.  I’ll be in a little less hurry to carry on vigorous pruning knowing that my attempt toward immediate tree beautification may lead to problems later on.

Just wanted you to know that I’ve got two opossums who found a home under my home’s crawlspace, that have been here for about 8 years now. They are Great Grandparents and having known me since birth, are actually quite tame. I just thought I’d mention this, because it seems to me as if your guess on the life span of these little guys is way off. A few of their Grandchildren are also still around and doing fine. They have got to be at least 5 years old, again, making me wonder where the information about them living only one or two years up here came from???

Don’t forget about the frequent apparent hybridization between red and black spruce in various ecological regions in the northeast.  In North Central Maine we call them “blackish” or “redish” depending on the dominant parent. Manley’s index from New Brunswick is a common “metric” And you just thought you could tell them apart!

Does anyone know of someone who got fungal pneumonia from working with diseased butternut wood? This seems like it could be likely when a woodworker used butternut wood that had fungus growing in it.

Dave:  You were looking for comments about the 69,000 acre Nature Conservancy deal in the Adirondacks.  Except for environmentalist activists and backpackers, this deal with NYS is not at all popular in the North Country.

    This transaction is one more blow to the forest industry in the Adirondacks as well as the many hunting and fishing clubs that will be displaced.  Among those clubs to be evicted is the famous 12,000 acre Gooley Club out of Indian Lake.  Gov. Cuomo says this deal will make jobs but the few guiding jobs created will in no way make up for the hundreds of lost forest industry jobs.  Of course, as usual, there was the threat of endangered species.

    Some were concerned that the Conservancy was put in a financial bind with this purchase.  That’s not likely!  The most recent issue of Forbes 400 magazine reported that in 2010 TNC took in $527 million in private donations.  This deal hardly dented their checkbook.  With a cash hoard like that they can make deals they shouldn’t be making and that is what happened in the ADKS.  New England states beware.

    Environmentalists and backpackers complained about limited access involving sporting camp leases. (Despite the 2.6 million acres currently in state lands.)  So what happens when the state takes over?  Gates go up and land is classified as wilderness - we have a million acres already - largely limiting access to youthful backpackers.  It is the height of hypocrisy.  Senior citizens are gradually being run out of the Adirondacks - and not so gradually in this instance.

                            Don Wharton