Tag: Meadows
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Spring Dance: Coyotes and White Tail Deer
One trail cam. One location. Three months, give or take. Deer. Coyotes. And the transition from winter to spring in the Adirondacks’ Champlain Valley. The perspective, situated near a fence opening at the transition of scrub forest and meadows offers a glimpse of the dance between ungulates (white tailed deer) and native canids (Eastern coyote).…
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Bobcat Sighting
This handsome bobcat (Lynx rufus) was photographed with game camera in one of our meadows on January 2, 2016. Friend and Essex neighbor John Davis mounted the camera about a month ago. In addition to photographs of deer, turkeys, and rabbits he discovered four images (from two separate occasions) of this healthy bobcat. In fact, he thinks it might possibly…
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Snakes, Swiss Chard & Automobiles
A week ago today was a day for snakes. Though – sadly, I must add – it was not a day for living snakes… Rattlesnakes and White Tail Deer Let’s start with the good news. Or at least the benign-if-slightly-amusing news. To set the stage, imagine yourself walking across the still dewy lawn south of…
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Rifle & Eggs
“Mornin’,” Wes said as he pulled the pantry door shut behind him and greeted Griffin with a scratch behind the ears. “Good morning,” I called back from the kitchen where I was scrambling eggs. “You don’t want me to run that thing on the tennis court, do ya?” he asked, referring to the lawn aerator…
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Timber Rattlesnake? Massasauga Rattlesnake?
Have you ever ever heard of an Eastern massasauga rattlesnake? Or a Sistrurus catenatus? Me either. Until recently. I’ve just come across notes that I scribbled almost three years ago on May 15, 2009 after seeing a large, unfamiliar snake behind the carriage barn. I tried to identify the exotic serpent but never solved the…
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Orchard Rumination
Lately I’ve been reflecting on all the trees I wish I’d planted in the fall of 2006 and the spring of 2007. We’ve been adding new trees for a year now — a half dozen or so each spring and fall — and yet I can’t help but imagine what might be today if I’d…