Two Fisher Cat Stories

A stuffed fisher cat at the Northwoods Center

A few summers ago, at night, a fisher cat tried to break into the open kitchen window. The cats were going crazy trying to break out to get the fisher. I have a shotgun but I couldn't shoot without shooting my own cats. I have to get a rifle soon but have not done so yet. Every night all windows on the first floor of the house have to be closed so that a fisher won't break in. They love to eat housecats.

My spring fed well in the woods.

This wild and true story came to me from our former science teacher, who used to live in Charleston. A dairy farmer there has a spring fed well for his cows in the barn. The water was coming into the barn, yet the cows refused to drink it and were getting thirsty and their milk yield was dropping. Finally the farmer went out to the well to see what the matter was. He took the lid off the well and found a fisher cat drowned in the well. He left the top off the well, intending to return later. But he never got back there for a week. When he returned, he found ten fisher cats drowned in the well!

Technorati Tags: fisher cats, Northwood Stewardship Center, spring wells, taxidermy

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Northwoods Stewardship Center

Last night, the Merrymakers performed at the Northwoods Stewardship Center Coffee House. I didn't take any photos last night, but returned in today's beautiful weather with the two beagles from hell, Scout and Sophie. Above you see the stage of the main Northwoods building, seen below. Northwoods Blog is an excellent resource for our local northern forest.

Below, we see Sophie, whom Amy said would never run far from me, out on the pond eating something large that was frozen in the ice. She ignored me until she ate the whole thing up.

A view of Bald Mountain from the deck of the main house. 

Another view below, with Sophie still eating whatever that was.

You can rent snowshoes and cross-country skis here for $5 a day.

Mountain biking in the summer.

Scout had a thirty foot lead tied to my waist. This, Amy told me, would allow me to take photographs while making sure that Scout, a runner, would not disappear on me. She never disappeared. But she did see a red squirrel to chase and she pulled me over on my backside with that lead. More here.

A totem

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Technorati Tags: East Charleston, Vermont, Northwoods Stewardship Center 

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