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On the side topic of ticks : A single Possum will eat 5,000-6,000 ticks per week so I think we should encourage their survival here in Maine as they move north into this area. They could help to keep the tick population down in a natural way. They are not adapted to the cold so possum boxes are helpful for their survival. Maybe a new species of tick eating wooly possums would evolve over time and end up on our license plates as the state marsupial.
On the side topic of ticks : A single Possum will eat 5,000-6,000 ticks per week so I think we should encourage their survival here in Maine as they move north into this area. They could help to keep the tick population down in a natural way. They are not adapted to the cold so possum boxes are helpful for their survival. Maybe a new species of tick eating wooly possums would evolve over time and end up on our license plates as the state marsupial.
i've thought about building some opossum houses out in our property! they are tick eating machines and we loved having them around down in Texas. they are little groundskeepers for sure.
Possums ain't particularly suited for Maine winters, but they're around. Those bare toes would burn off with frostbite. Never heard of any north of the Mason/Augusta line, though. Years ago in Concord, NH, daughter comes off the front porch during the evening news and says "dad, there's a GIANT rat on the porch . . . it's THIS BIG!!" I go out looking for a rodent and run into a BIG snarling marsupial. Grab the broom, move it away. Mean varmint with a headful of teeth. Lotta noise, too.
It goes in phases, sometimes there is a lot of discussion about lyme disease on this forum. That is where I generally hear about the disease, on this forum. My neighbors do not know much about it.
In 1992, I was stationed in Connecticut and a co-worker got it from stacking firewood. At that time, the Navy considered it an incurable / terminal disease, so they gave him a medical retirement. He has been the only person I have known to get the disease.
According to posters on this forum, nearly everyone on MDI has gotten it.
Living in South Jersey and having deer in the yard and owning land, S/O and i have both had Lyme Disease, and one of my sisters has had it. "They say" it gets cured, but i wonder sometimes... Not sure if it's been around long enough for them to be sure. My other sister's step-son (NY State) has the type that keeps flaring up year after year.
Edited to add: We still have ticks alive now, in almost mid-Nov. They used to die out much faster, i swear it! This is the first "chilly" day we've had this year. I cannot wait to move!
Living in South Jersey and having deer in the yard and owning land, S/O and i have both had Lyme Disease, and one of my sisters has had it. "They say" it gets cured, but i wonder sometimes... Not sure if it's been around long enough for them to be sure. My other sister's step-son (NY State) has the type that keeps flaring up year after year.
Edited to add: We still have ticks alive now, in almost mid-Nov. They used to die out much faster, i swear it! This is the first "chilly" day we've had this year. I cannot wait to move!
I would have thought that the weather in Jersey is different from the weather in Maine. Don't ticks kind of disappear when temps are below zero?
Yes but i think for them to DIE it has to stay below a certain temp for a while. Otherwise they hide and come back out. I'm going to watch more closely this year! I know we are still seeing them... but it has not been below freezing yet.
Open winters will reduce tick levels. Lots of snow and they do fine. However, right now they're looking for rodent/deer/turkey any winter host that will keep them going. The actual primary carrier of the deer tick is mice, and they're loaded. Then, of course, we have the scourge of winter ticks decimating the moose herd south of Jackman.
I just found my first deer ticks ever in Essex County Vermont this past summer. The warm winters are letting them spread. I never saw any around the Orono/Bangor area 2 years ago but boy did I see them in Oxford County last year when I was there a handful of times in the woods.
Adult deer ticks are at the height of their active period now. They're waiting for a free ride and meal on branches and tall grasses.
My dogs are vaccinated each year. No adverse side effects so far.
That stand isn't supposed to be on anyone's land without permission. That hunter doesn't deserve that stand back so he can do it again. Being nice to trespassers encourages bad behavior.
I don't post my land and likely wouldn't tell anyone to leave if they were decent. But the thing that most aggravates me is when people put up tree stands, put nails into the trees, clear shooting lanes through the woods, etc. I've invested hundreds in just my 10 acres planting in the understory to push the woods to what I want them to be and bring the wildlife in. When I work as a forester on others' lands, the loss of regeneration can truly hit the thousands when people start clearing it out. Once an overstory removal is done after a shelterwood establishes the regeneration, you can't just seed in a new crop of trees. The seed trees are largely or entirely gone. Your only option is planting. I've documented close to a hundred acres of seedlings destroyed in the past month by illegal clearing of shooting lanes. I've never seen these people charged with the felony they deserve for the dollar value of the damages.
Who cares about being "neighborly" or assimilation? Your land is your land.
Any hunting on private land without permission is technically trespassing. Not your land or not public land? Stay off it.
Signs have never really worked. They just pull them down or walk by. Luckily they all parked in the same place and you could tell when they were there. Just fire a few shots off and they'll leave after you scare the deer away. Would probably never say no if someone asked for permission... Only been one of those in two decades.
On the flip side, I've never had to pay for a hunting stand. Every once in awhile someone puts one in one of my trees. All I need to do is pack it up and take it home. How kind of them. The ferocious golden retriever even found a nice bow once.
Why am I not surprised by your post.
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