Site Discussions

I saw one of these for the first time last night. I was not sure what type of insect it was until I looked it up. It bit me on the inside of my arm. And yes, it did hurt worse than a bee sting. I am allergic to bees and oddly enough I had the same reaction to the beetle bite. My arm started swelling up and this morning I am left with a very defined bite mark with about a 1/2 inch red circle all the way around it. It still hurts. I took pictures of the bite mark if anyone is interested.

Looking out about 75 - 100 yards from our deck, we saw a tawny coloured cat with quite heavy fur about the size of a small German Shepherd. He had pointed upright ears and was just lying in among the trees at the edge of the forest. We watched him for about 15 minutes (sadly we had no camera). He got up and turned around and lay down again a few times and then slowly meandered back into the woods.

The photos I see of Catamounts seem sleeker. Are there other mountain cats that have tawny colored fur which are not quite so sleek?

I have the same problem that Annette has. but the tree is losing all of its needles. I thought it may be too dry where it’s planted so I dug a small hole about a foot from the base and about a foot down and hammered a 2” pipe down about 2’ then put a hose with water dripping in. I don’t know if it’s helping yet. I can’t see anything moving on it where the splits are, but down from the splits the sap is dry and has white steaks. The sap starts off clear. It’s the only white pine in my yard. It has grown about 16” since I planted it 2 1/2 years ago it’s about 7’ now. Please help me keep my tree, any help would be great.
Thank you, Bill

PS. The splits are not on the branches they’re on the main part of the tree, from top to bottom, maybe 4 spots.

Hi Susan.

I spoke with Ginny Barlow, and we think it probably was indeed a porcupine who chewed on your branches, and the branches dropped to the ground. We just can’t think of what else it could be!

Anyone else out there have any ideas?

Hi there,
We recently have encountered a mysterious happening on our property. We have several species of hard wood trees, namely a large sickle pear, apple pear and elm trees. The other day after winter clean up several dozen branches were scattered under each of the trees. Some were at least 3/4 inch in diameter. The bark wasn’t stripped, but it appears that something chewed through the branches and they were dropped from all heights. Would anyone have an idea what type of animal would do this. We haven’t seen any signs of porkys, but we wonder.
Please assist us in identifying the culprit.
Life in NH

New fracking technology is now being used in NY that uses no water and leaves no harmful chemicals.  Gasfrak Energy Services uses a methane gel rather than water.

I have a secret weapon for finding sheds.
Her name is Patty and she’s a Labrador Retriever.
I could not find her one day.  She has an
invisible fence so she should have been in
my own back yard.  I searched everywhere.
Finally, in my own backyard, I saw a mound of briers
and dead leaves heaving up and down. She was
backing her way out from under the pile
and with her came her prize - an antler from a young
buck.  The critters whose home she invaded had
had it only a short time as there were only a couple
of gnaw marks on it.  So I thanked her, purchased
a piece of antler from Orvis for her and now the antler
is mine.

A month ago I found a shed antler in an overgrown conifer plantation that for years has been a winter deer yard.  This antler was a year or more on the ground, I would say, because it was mostly covered in green algae. It was only partially chewed.

An interesting article that answers questions we’ve long had: When do deer and moose grow and lose their antlers? And does anything eat the shed antlers? Thanks for the information!

I feel like I’m at this conference. Look forward to the next report!

When cleaning out my Purple Martin gourds I found a straw nest that was completely round with an opening in one side.  What bird makes a nest like this?

Well said! Thank you.

RE: Watering in the winter.

I plant lots of trees. I seldom water after the first growing season and never after the second. However, I’m from Upstate NY.  We get a lot of precipitation, essentially year around (We average ~160” of snow every winter.) so contact your local nursery or an arborist that is familiar with your climate. Having said that, I’ll take my best shot anyway:

It all depends on the tree species and how well-established it is:

First year- water a lot!, especially for the first month or two after you plant. Research has shown that up to 90% of a tree’s roots can get left behind in the nursery when a tree is dug. It will take several years to re-grow a new root system, so you just about can’t over water in the first year.

Second & ~3rd year:  The trees should have regrown a substantial root system. So you should be able to get buy with far less frequent, but deeper watering.

After that, you are (or should be) talking about well-established trees, I think your daughter is correct. You shouldn’t need to water in the winter, or the summer for that matter.

Again, talk to someone that knows your local climate. You say that Rigecrest, CA is high-desert.  For all I know, you may have to irrigate for the life of the tree!  if so, ya should-a planted cactus!

LOL

Excellent work… one of the exercises I use in my “thinking” classes is to have students read headlines from newspapers and other publications. The question to answer is: “Is this fact or opinion?”

While journalism ethics are an important consideration so are the critical thinking skills of readers! We need to develop better “BS Detectors.”

This essay deserves wider distribution. I’m doing my part by sending a link to it to many people I know, but it would be great to expand that range. Also to see it in print in an important national/international publication. Anybody who can help disseminate such a balanced, reasonable, and well-written piece to a wider audience, please do so!

Thanks for the unequivocal debunking of the sugaring season myth. I think that your point generally applies to much of the weather that we experience. We are made aware of how the daily weather supposedly varies from normal. Really, normal rarely occurs because what is normal is for weather to vary considerably from one day and one year to the next. Simply put, if one day had a temp of zero, and the next 100, then the normal (average) would be 50. Whereas 50 never really occurred, except as a brief moment as the temp ascended or declined.

Very insightful , it certainly would be great to believe more of what we read and you make that possible Dave.

Wonderful! As an ag and natural resources writer, communications manager and editor, thank you for this!!! So much “journalism” now days is what I call “infotainment.” I was thinking today at lunch that, if everyone had to take classes in chemistry, biochemistry, biology and physiology, what an educated outlook on the real world there would be.

Nice work Dave. Very cogent essay. Ricker

I live in Montgomery. I was sitting on my porch talking on the phone with my porch light on and my driveway sensor lights on and a large canine came out from the side of my garage and across my driveway, crossed the street and disappear into the dark field.I believe it was a wolf -  very large and it looked husky. There are no dogs in the area that look like this. And it definitely was not a coyote. I’ve seen a coyote. It sure didn’t give a hoot that I was sitting there. A dog? No, dogs are too nosy and like to sniff you. A hybrid? Well I just don’t believe wolves and coyotes mate, not going to happen (well, only if in captivity and brought up as pups together, yes maybe). And Coy dog? Well that is just a name New Englanders came up with -  no such thing. Coyotes do not mate with dogs either. I have never seen this animal again, but have seen plenty of coyotes. This actually happened this summer and I live 15 mins from the Canadian border. Is this possible? I believe it is -  anything is….