More SoVT Backcountry

[Glenn]

Borrowing Euler's theme here. We weren't on skis...but we did use Phresheez to track. We ended up hiking almost 4 miles...most of it was untracked. As a skier, I don't like crust on the snow. Today, I enjoyed it. Walking in the middle of the woods was pretty darn easy. We were able to pick up some snowmobile tracks towards the end and that was really easy walking. Also did a little exploring around our neighborhood, but I didn't take pics.

This is an old logging road just off our neighbors driveway. We found where the deer bed down at night:

Mrs Glenn near the deer bed:

This field is aways through the woods...maybe a mile back or so. All untracked. Just before I took this pic, I saw an owl fly and land just out of sight in a tree. Pretty crazy after seeing Euler's pic a few hours earlier.

Here's how deep the snow is...that's a barbed wire fence just poking out of the snow.

Relaxing in an old tree stand that was now close to the ground:

Here's where things got interesting. I just finished taking a leak and my wife says: "Uhhhh! Something is coming towards us!" It was a (Greg) Fisher Cat. It hardly looked at us...but wasn't really bothered by us. It walked around a bit and we decided to move along. We followed the path/old dirt road we were on and headed to the field. The entire way, the snow was covered in Fisher Cat tracks...so we knew we were in it's territory. Instead of back tracking, we took another way home.

Deer! Well, sorta. We ducked into the woods after crossing another field in order to get back to the Class IV portion of our road. That's where we saw a few of these. It was near some property where there's a house.

All in all, a sweet walk today. It was so nice to get out and move around a bit. Plus, we walked pretty far in snowshoes.

 

[Euler]

How great that you saw a fisher! They are such a cool animal, I think only fishers and wolverines can successfully hunt porcupines! I've only seen a couple in my decade plus up here in VT. Also really liked the shot of the barbed wire at the surface of the snow. The snow is really quite deep in the woods here these days. I hope we don't lose too much before the next storm.

 

[billski]

From what I know, Fishers aren't very cool, they're pretty nasty little beasts. Look out for the pretty ones, that's what they say.
Anyways, what a great day outdoors, lots of wildlife and discovery. Sure beats just seeing the same old same old. Glad you made good use of the crust.

 

[Euler]

From what I know, Fishers aren't very cool, they're pretty nasty little beasts. Look out for the pretty ones, that's what they say.
Anyways, what a great day outdoors, lots of wildlife and discovery. Sure beats just seeing the same old same old. Glad you made good use of the crust.

Nah...fishers get a bad rap that's mostly unfounded:

In some areas fishers can become pests to farmers because they will get into a pen and kill large numbers of chickens. Unprovoked attacks on humans are extremely rare,[6] but they will attack if they feel threatened or cornered. There have been a few instances of fishers preying on cats and small dogs.[42][43][44][45][46][47] A study done in 1979 examined the stomach contents of all fishers trapped in the state of New Hampshire; cat hairs were found in only 1 of over 1,000 stomachs.[48] While there is popular belief for more frequent attacks on pets, zoologists suggest bobcats or coyotes are more likely to prey upon domestic cats and chickens.

(Wikipeida entry on fishers)

 

[Glenn]

Thanks Euler! I didn't realize they're kinda rare to see. I have to admit, it freaked us out a bit...from a distance it looked like a bear cub head on...and we know who's usually with a cub. But then the ol' brain registered that bears are hibernating.

I've heard the Fisher's out at night and they make a really nasty/haunting noise. So I was a little worried to see one during the day. I thought they only came out at night. Having dealt with a rabbid raccoon before...not fun!

I shoulda taken some pics of the tracks...this thing had moved around a lot in one area we were walking. It's so cool to see all the animal tracks this time of year. The deer had quite a trail system in place.

Thanks Bill. I feel really fortunate that we're able to walk out the back door in VT and explore stuff like that. I used to love being the woods when I was a kid...I guess I never grew out of it.

 

[andyaxa]

That is cool, you caught a pic of a fisher, Very elusive.
We have spotted them only a handful of times, but I can tell you the first time we heard one was pretty creepy. I was out at our pond camping with our three young girls...middle of the night...one of the twins left the tent for a "nature break" and when she was out, the sound of what I can only say sounded like a child being tortured/murdered, really horror-movie-ish repeated itself a number of times. My daughter, who had been sleeping next to the tent flap/door, made it back into the tent and scooted up onto the single blow-up mattress with me. I told her to go get back in her sleeping bag. She said, "DAD!!, Did you hear that?????!!! I'm not sleeping next to the door" To which I said, "Yah, I don't blame you...grab your bag and move up here."

 

[Glenn]

Here's a link to the sound they make. No video...just the noise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re9KZ4_wbP4

I've heard them at night in the warmer months. Talk about a noise that makes the hair on your neck stand up.