Possible move to Maine husband is freaking out about bears lol (camp, dangerous)

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

There are no badgers, wolverines or catamounts in Maine. Fire ants arrived in Eastport from a cargo ship several years ago. I have never seen one in Maine. We don't have termites either.

What people think are badgers are woodchucks

I am 100% certain we did not have a wood chuck on our back porch. It was dark, so I suppose it might have been a deformed skunk who had absorbed too much gamma radiation and turned into a Skunk Hulk. Big, striped, with the triangular head and bad attitude.

What Are the Eight Types of Badgers? | Animals - mom.me

Habitats
American badgers (Taxidea taxus) live in the western and central United States, northern Mexico and central Canada. They range from the Great Lakes states west to Pacific Coast, and from Canadian Prairie Provinces, south to Mexican Plateau. They also can be found further east, in Maine, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire. Eurasian badgers (Meles meles) are found in most of Europe, from Ireland and Britain eastward to Russia, Mongolia, Japan, China and Tibet, generally in forests with substantial scrub. The remaining species are found in Southeast Asia.

[Redraven]

"He thinks that the new pellet guns are not enough for protection, either."

On this, he is absolutely right! NEVER shoot at a bear with a pellet gun! If the bear even feels it, all it will do is make him (or her) mad.
If you are going to shoot at a bear, make sure you use a gun big enough and powerful enough to kill it.
When you decide where you are going to settle, find the nearest Ranger Station and go get some guidance on how to live with wild animals. DO NOT be like some tourists in Yellowstone National Park who want to walk up and pet the "friendly domesticated bison". Last year, IIRC, the score was bison 5, tourists 0. Wild animals are dangerous, but only if a human does something really, really dumb!

[slyfox2]

$100K may not be enough for you, depending on your lifestyle. But remember that Maine only pays their governor $72K.

[nibsie]

Great info, thank you so much! I've lived in Montana so the wildlife in Maine doesn't concern me too much Lol! Yellowstone blew me away-all the idiots trying to pat the Bison and Elk!!!
The pellet guns I'm referring to are the new fangled high power suckers. Like this: AirForce Texan Big Bore Air Rifle. Air rifles - PyramydAir.com
The husband is a pipe welder and has been offered a job with Cianbro. We have almost no debt, a couple of credit cards of around $300 a month. What's the rent like? Not sure if we'll settle in Pittsfield or somewhere else. I grew up in Massachusetts and miss the ocean. So I'm just not sure where to live. I have two kids still in school- both will be in high school, so I'd like somewhere with good schools. We live in WV now and I hate it; between the poor schools and the welfare attitude as a way of life, I'm ready to leave. How hard are the wintersin ME, really? When I lived in MT it was long winters, but I'm assuming ME winters are similar to MA winters.
You all are so helpful, thank you!!

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by nibsie

... The husband is a pipe welder and has been offered a job with Cianbro.

That sounds great

...What's the rent like? Not sure if we'll settle in Pittsfield or somewhere else.

Shouldn't be too bad.

... I grew up in Massachusetts and miss the ocean. So I'm just not sure where to live. I have two kids still in school- both will be in high school, so I'd like somewhere with good schools. We live in WV now and I hate it; between the poor schools and the welfare attitude as a way of life, I'm ready to leave. How hard are the winters in ME, really? When I lived in MT it was long winters, but I'm assuming ME winters are similar to MA winters.

I have never lived in Ma. We have spent a lot of time in Ct. We find the big difference between Ct and Me, is that in Ct the snow storms will dump multiple feet in one storm. Whereas here we do not get dumped on like that. Ct is in the snow-belt and along with all of the cities that are downwind of the Great Lakes, they can get huge dumps in a single storm.

Here it is not un-common to see 4 to 6 inches in a storm, once a week for 6 or 8 weeks in a row. In our little town we have seen three storms over the past decade where we got 14 inches of snow in a single storm. Here that much snow is big. But it is not 3 or 4 foot over night like Ct gets.

Northern Maine is colder and gets more snow. Along the coast the temps are moderated by the ocean currents. Southern Maine is more densely populated, has higher taxes, and slightly warmer temps.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

OP, Do NOT take your husband to see the movie Revenant. He will never even want to go outdoors again.

[TheKezarWoodsman]

It was a great movie though, but i agree with NMLM on yet another topic....

I want to see it again.

[GregW]

My in-laws over near Littleton NH have a bear or two show up on their deck in the spring to show the cubs where the bird feeders are. There are moose in the swampy area near the bottom of their lower field.


When I was a kid the local Crows flocked to the dump to watch me slaughter rats with a .22 single shot rifle. When I packed up to leave they all screeched and cawed and descended for the feast. I think they liked me.

[corgis]

Originally Posted by nibsie

Great info, thank you so much! I've lived in Montana so the wildlife in Maine doesn't concern me too much Lol! Yellowstone blew me away-all the idiots trying to pat the Bison and Elk!!!
The pellet guns I'm referring to are the new fangled high power suckers. Like this: AirForce Texan Big Bore Air Rifle. Air rifles - PyramydAir.com
The husband is a pipe welder and has been offered a job with Cianbro. We have almost no debt, a couple of credit cards of around $300 a month. What's the rent like? Not sure if we'll settle in Pittsfield or somewhere else. I grew up in Massachusetts and miss the ocean. So I'm just not sure where to live. I have two kids still in school- both will be in high school, so I'd like somewhere with good schools. We live in WV now and I hate it; between the poor schools and the welfare attitude as a way of life, I'm ready to leave. How hard are the wintersin ME, really? When I lived in MT it was long winters, but I'm assuming ME winters are similar to MA winters.
You all are so helpful, thank you!!

We live half the year in Maine we live the other half in West Virginia and I don't really think I have a "welfare attitude".

[Back2thebeach]

I lived just outside of Lincoln back in 2009. One night I was about to let the dog out and I looked out the window and there was a huge black 'thing' just going down the porch stairs.. I was so frightened it took a moment to look back out and I could see what I didn't want to. It was a bear. I called the wildlife management and a ranger came out. He said the bear had been spotted in the was about 300 lbs. and told me to take in my hummingbird feeders, etc. The people at church said make a windchime out of forks and spoons and hang it on the porch. I saw his claw marks in my tree one morning and I quit going to church at night since I'd have to come in alone. I was afraid for myself, my dogs and put my house on the market and moved to southern NH. I had lived outside of Bangor for about 5 years previously and never saw a bear. It depends on where you are, but I spent a lot of time reading up on black bears and it didn't seem worth it to me to stay. I think your husband is a smart man to look into these things ahead of time. This bear had shown up after a kid's birthday, took the tank of air used to inflate balloons and carried it down to the road and left it. The ranger told me that and could only guess it had something to do with the hissing sound. Look up the black bear stories online and then decide, that's my advice. I loved Maine and I hope to go back soon, but I will be careful where I settle this time for sure. Best of Luck with your decision.