Southern New Hampshire Wildlife (Londonderry, Haverhill: stats, yard, charge)

[Yankeehombre]

Moose rarely venture much more south than Concord. Moose get some brain fungus that makes them stupid enough to venture into populated areas. I have seen a Moose in Epping. One was moseying down the Kingston plains in the 70's as I recall. but those are the only three incidents I recall in the 30-odd years I've been here.

Pawtuckaway State Park reports timber rattlers do reside on the mountain. I've never seen one anywhere in N.H. If you mind your own business they will too, since you're obviously too large to swallow!

According to the web"Timber Rattlesnakes are non aggressive with a reluctance to bite, but have highly toxic venom";
Timber Rattler

[nhrocky]

Originally Posted by MtnFlyer

How far south in New Hampshire does the moose population reach? I know they're more prevalent up in Moose Alley close to Canada.

Two yrs ago, my daughter was eating breakfast before school, looking out the DR window and yelled to me about the moose walking down the middle of our road! We're in SW NH on the CT River. I've also seen one in a boggy area along Route 9 just before the road to Stoddard. Also the brown (or black?) bear that was in our back yard rooting around in an old rotted log. If you're lucky enough to be on a lake, you might hear a loon in the middle of the night, or at this time of year, the Canada Geese in the late afternoons/evenings. You're more than likely to hear/smell a skunk rustling around in th dark, lol

As for the rattlesnakes, as a kid, I can remember calling/hearing Mt Wantastiquet (up the road from us) referred to as "Rattlesnake Mountain"

[buck naked]

Also, supposedly there aren't any poisonous snakes in NH (too cold) although a few residents report finding rattlesnakes. Given that all it takes is some idiot to release their "pet"- always better to play it safe. That said- they are not a worry by any means.

not true - NH is home to the Timber rattlesnake and it is a protected, endangered species - we had one in our barn in Candia. It was coiled in the corner and would repeatedly strike at the dog.

I've seen others resting on the cliffs in Bear Brook state park. They are not aggressive creatures and will try to avoid humans.

In Derry, we had a bull moose approach the kids at the bus stop one morning around 7AM.


Deer, rabbits, opossum, bear, moose, coyote, fishercats, beaver, porcupine, are all abundant in southern NH. Even more so in northern NH.

[buck naked]

oh yes - there is another poisonous snake in NH - the beautiful copperhead is here.

We have granite steps that lead out the front door and one day I saw a bright orange snake disappear under the block. My kids reported seeing them as well when I mentioned it. So my brother and I did the back breaking work of moving the granite steps. We had the county extension agent with us because we reported a possible copperhead den.

Sure enough, the steps revealed a nest of copperheads. They were taken to UNH.

Those are my only encounters with POISONOUS snakes. We have a lot that are not poisonous but are still scary. The water snake is very scary looking. It's black and can get to be 8-10 feet long and as thick as my arm.

We also have a Hog snake - I've only seen one in my lifetime and again it was at Bear Brook. The beast played dead. I thought it had been hit by a car or something, so I nudged it with my foot. It coiled right up and raised his head and spread it's hood! I thought I had a cobra! LOL

Then it lay back down and played dead again.....harmless.


I had to look it up.

[BF66389]

Here's a good link to NH snakes. Supposedly the copperhead isn't here yet- but that doesn't mean with the warming climate it isn't.

TEMPLATE - N.H. Fish and Game Wildlife Report

Thanks for the correction on the timber rattler as well- amazingly my herp book has their range ending in MA; that said it was published in '86

Also, in regards to Black Bears its important to note that a lot of what comes off as aggressive behavior is more defensive. It is common for a blackberry to "false charge" where it will run full speed at you and then back off at the last minute. Not cool, but at least it means that if a black bear is running at you there is a fairly good chance it actually doesn't plan on hitting you.

Of course the best advise is called back off and let the wild animals have their space, don't keep things around that attract them (garbage/bears), etc.

[buck naked]

Ord. requires 3 acres
for a house so land is plentiful.


in Farmington? why are they building all those new houses on Governors Road with only 1 acre?

[AngelaK]

So, I spent 6 years in Wolfeboro...and never saw anything besides squirrels and 1 deer that ran through our yard one time. Then, I moved to Manchester.....and I have been up close and personal with a skunk in my yard, an opposum on my doorstep, a very large rat under my porch, a peregrine falcon in my tree, mockingbirds and other assorted birds, squirrels of course, and a very close encounter with 2 large moose walking along route 101 in Amherst NH..................so, yes there is wildlife in southern NH. My husband and I joke about having more creatures in Manchester than we ever did in Wolfeboro.....................

[buck naked]

[SIZE=2]my daughter lives on the Hooksett/Manchester line in one of those huge apartment complexes. She routinely sees a bear between I-93 and her apt. building just meandering along on his daily visits.

She has pictures. I wouldn't have guess that they are in the city, but it appears they are.

Moose have been spotted in the city as well. The Union Leader once posted a picture of one walking down Hanover St. in broad daylight.
[/SIZE]

[sgthoskins]

Took this in Fitzwilliam right off rte 119.

[Pawporri]

So has anyone mentioned porkupines. See them a lot and often
as roadkill.