Site Discussions

I keep wondering . . . is everything we consider “native,” a plant or an animal that has been here (whatever “here” is for any individual) since the beginning of time? Or has the population of a given region changed, by various means, at various times? If so, that raises the question of what is native as of when, and what is considered natural change.

Reminds me of the old saying that a weed is a plant the gardener doesn’t want in his garden or lawn. Many weeds are native plants with beneficial food or medicinal properties. But we rip them out by the roots and poison them with chemicals because they grow where we don’t want them.

Then, of course, there’s us—the ultimate alien invading species. Most of the plants, animals, and insects we now consider invasive arrived on our coattails. So should we ban ourselves from moving around? Should we tear ourselves up by the roots and burn us because we are a scourge?

It’s hard to keep a balanced perspective about all this.

An enlightening book on the subject of non-native plants is: INVASIVE PLANT MEDICINE - The Ecological Benefits and Healing Abilities of Invasives, by Timothy Lee Scott. c.2010

Very funny Virginia.  When in Alaska and driving from Seward to Anchorage my son and I spotted a lone girl sitting in the weeds alongside the highway. I turned around and went back to inquire as to what she might be doing, sitting in the rain and digging something?  She said she too was digging up non-native plants and proceeded to describe it to us.  I think she would greatly appreciate your writings-just as much as I do. Thanks for all your great articles and exquisite drawings and art work.  Hiya(Andy Crosier)

Thanks for the musings about honeysuckle Virginia.  Indeed my own attitude about honeysuckle in particular has matured after several decades of dealing with it in the Taconics in SW Vermont.  I have observed and learned two things about honeysuckle over that time-

It can be relatively easily “shaded out” under a closed canopy, which makes for viable control opportunities in forest management.

Honeysuckle can be an effective “deer fence” in areas of high deer populations.  I have seen sugar maple and ash regeneration get up through moderate to heavy honeysuckle in areas where a heavy deer population wouldn’t have allowed it otherwise.

Q: THE IMPORTANCE OF STAND STRUCTURE IN MANAGEMENT

Hi, I agree with your contempt of non-native species.  However, the beautiful berries of the Honeysuckle would lead me to believe that it is a good plant for our native fruit loving birds.  I get totally irate when I see the non-native House Sparrow trying to out compete the Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, and Purple Martins in my area, too. So, most people don’t ‘get it’ when it comes to invasives, myself included.  Thank you for your post, we did get rid of a buckthorn plant (15’ tall) after we did figure out that it was indeed that plant (again, berries equals food for birds right?).  How do we get the word out??  We must keep each other informed.  Thanks,  Judy in SE Wisconsin

We also have to remember that with the encroachment of humans on our natural places, some of the invasives provide essential nourishment for our migratory and overwintering birds. If all the Asiatic bittersweet, multiflora rose, Japanese honeysuckle, Japanese barberry, and burning bush were to be eradicated, our bird friends would be sorely pressed to obtain enough to eat to fuel migration or make it through a snowy winter’s night.
Though I also eliminate many of these invasives (and others) on sight, I neither hate them nor love them. They are not responsible for being here, humans are.

The trouble with introduced species is not with the organisms themselves. It is with our meddling with nature, introducing organisms into other ecosystems. It is as if we would take a beautiful segment of a symphony and stick into another equally beautiful piece of music. The result would be bad. It is possible to weave this new fragment into the larger work with some effort; but multiply these additions many times and, what do you get? Something beyond repair.
So let us direct our anger to the perpetrators, or better yet, let us try to undo some of the damage to ecosystems and most of all: let us stop moving things where they don’t belong!
http://polinizador.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/introduced-species-discordant-notes/

last year on the porch at our camp, i left the chrome colored scoop on top of the snow where i was getting some to melt for washing up.  when i came out later, it was full of what turned out to be, under my hand lens, some of these little critters.  they were more brownish.  there must have been a quarter to a half a cup in a scoop that’s not more than a 4 by 6 inches.  i had to sneak up on them to see them closely, and they were both lovely and creepy at the same time.  i strain the wash water carefully before i use it…

it is indeed amazing to see them be there one second and gone the next. they are a marvel of engineering.

Although I appreciate Virginia’s comments and do not go completely ballistic myself, being on the shore and in southeastern Connecticut we constantly deal with Oriental Bittersweet, Autumn Olive and Phragmites.  All will try the patience of Job and are a never-ending challenge.

I don’t know what a venus fly trap and a bladderwort and a sundew all have in common!

Hello, Seventeen years ago, volunteers and I erected a nesting platform in a wetland just outside of Orleans, VT, off of interstate 91. A week ago, I saw my first osprey on the platform and now there is nest material and a pair! Nesting pairs are not numerous in NEK and so I have been just elated to see this activity. One of the ospreys appears to be a young bird with darker plumage underneath the wings. Keep you fingers crossed for a successful nesting season without human disturbance.

so if your given 50 acres alongside a montain side you would take the measurement from the arial view, not the actual walked off square footage alongside the slope?

According to the game warden stories I used to hear as a kid, (my dad was a Vermont game warden) skunks can’t spray unless their feet are on the ground (or they have ahold of your pants leg). I have also heard that they won’t spray if they’re out of range, or if they don’t have a target. I never tested any of these theories myself. I have nearly stepped on or tripped over a skunk a couple of times in the woods at night, but they just scampered off without spraying.

Skunks themselves are pretty much odorless. Their two spray nipples are surrounded by small hairless patches, and invert (like inflating a rubber glove and pushing a finger inside the glove) when not in use, so the oil is well contained and they don’t get it on themselves when they spray. They are an interesting animal to watch. They are very smart and curious, with excellent powers of smell and hearing, but not great distance vision. They are easy to trap, and get hit by cars often, not because they are stupid, but because they are fearless. It does not occur to them that a car is anything to be scared of. They are always very interested in eating. A friend had a descented pet skunk - if anything got spilled on the carpet, the skunk would smell it and start to dig a hole in the carpet to find what he thought must be buried there. They have very nice high quality fur, which used to be marketed as “American Sable”. When the laws changed and the fur had to be accurately identified, demand for skunk fur went down, though it is still used for trim.

Hey Dave-

I loved reading this blog!  Felt like I was there with you guys, and learned a lot about sugaring too.  I’ll be in VT in August.  Hope to see you!

Its not that all the ‘environmentalists’ are anti wood burning, after all, it is cheap and effective. But if you can upgrade your old system to one that is cleaner and more efficient, then why the fuss? Less wood to cut, less smoke, more heat. Makes sense right? Credible facts:

“Even when used properly, OWBs emit, on an average per hour basis, about four times as much fine particulate matter pollution as conventional wood stoves, about 12 times as much fine particle pollution as EPA-certified wood stoves, 1000 times more than oil furnaces, and 1800 times more than gas furnaces.”
-Taken from a report by the Office of the Attorney General Environmental Protection Bureau

OWB = outdoor wood boilers.

In the 1930s my uncles used to catch skunks by hand in the fall by shining lights in the orchards at night.  They would walk up to the light blinded skunk, reach over to grab their tail and pop it into a burlap bag where it would not spray.  A friend once persuaded my uncle to let him help.  He was warned not to let the skunk grab onto his body as that would allow the skunk something to tense their legs against so they could spray.  The very first skunk sprayed and blinded the poor fellow and my uncle had to lead him by voice to a mud puddle so he could rinse off. My uncle is 93 and there are still a few good stories left in him.

What wood burning, air force furnace would you recomend, one that ignites wood gases and uses no water, one that haves a secondary chaber to burn wood gasses, a gasification unit or a unit that uses water and has gasification system ?

We will all miss Mike Greason A smart caring and honest man !  If anyone can fill his shoes God bless them.

Bill—

Thanks for your comment. We’ll take a look at the papers you mention.

Climate change is a topic that we struggle with mightily and, amongst us editors, heatedly. It’s clearly the most significant ecological story of our time. It’s also a story replete with hyperbole and mis-information. We need to cover the story yet we aren’t always sure how to do it accurately. In the case of maple migration, it’s possible that the migration has yet to occur because climate change has only just begun to take hold. It’s also possible that no significant migration will take place because other factors are more significant controls on the species’ distribution than climate.

Either way, thanks for looking out for us and helping to point us in the right direction.

—Chuck Wooster