New England Met Autumn 2023 Banter

[Lava Rock]

need to replace my mom's shelter logic 20x12x8 cover and stunned at the cost. We bought the whole thing with cover, poles, etc not even 3 yrs ago for <$500. Replacement cover depending on heavy dutiness is $800-1100! Obviously that's where they make their money, but jeez that's pricey. I think we'll just get a standard HD tarp for ~$200. Might not look as pretty, but should do the job. 

[dendrite]

1 hour ago, radarman said:

I've seen a Marten, all white, from the chairlift at Sugarbush. Moving right across the trail in full view.  I didn't even realize the rarity of such til just now.

Was that for sure a marten or an ermine?

[dryslot]

7 minutes ago, Lava Rock said:

need to replace my mom's shelter logic 20x12x8 cover and stunned at the cost. We bought the whole thing with cover, poles, etc not even 3 yrs ago for <$500. Replacement cover depending on heavy dutiness is $800-1100! Obviously that's where they make their money, but jeez that's pricey. I think we'll just get a standard HD tarp for ~$200. Might not look as pretty, but should do the job. 

The tarp is not going to last either, If you do decide, Pay the extra and get the higher price one, All the less expensive covers are toast in a few years, I have a 32x12x10 and my first cover lasted 21 years and in 2015, I replaced it and no issues with this one either i have now, (8yrs), I think though it depends on where you have them, Mine is on the north side of the house so the sun doesn't heat the crap out of the cover.

[DavisStraight]

34 minutes ago, dryslot said:

The tarp is not going to last either, If you do decide, Pay the extra and get the higher price one, All the less expensive covers are toast in a few years, I have a 32x12x10 and my first cover lasted 21 years and in 2015, I replaced it and no issues with this one either i have now, (8yrs), I think though it depends on where you have them, Mine is on the north side of the house so the sun doesn't heat the crap out of the cover.

Some people put a matching tarp over the Shelter Logic to make it last longer, if you have to replace the tarp, it's a lot cheaper.

[dryslot]

3 minutes ago, DavisStraight said:

Some people put a matching tarp over the Shelter Logic to make it last longer, if you have to replace the tarp, it's a lot cheaper.

Kind of defeats the purpose of the cover it doesn't it though?

[tamarack]

2 hours ago, radarman said:

I've seen a Marten, all white, from the chairlift at Sugarbush. Moving right across the trail in full view.  I didn't even realize the rarity of such til just now.

Never heard of an albino marten before, but most mammals produce very rare albino offspring so it's certainly possible.  A long-tailed weasel is about 2/3 the size of a marten and always turns white, just like it's much smaller short-tailed weasel.  I think both species are called ermine when white.

[DavisStraight]

19 minutes ago, dryslot said:

Kind of defeats the purpose of the cover it doesn't it though?

It's goes over the Shelter Logic. I've seen them match so good you don't realize it's a tarp, if you have to replace the tarp in 5 years it's cheaper than the whole thing and it protects the Shelter Logic. I don't have, it's just what people who have them have told me.

[radarman]

2 hours ago, dendrite said:

Was that for sure a marten or an ermine?

 

1 hour ago, tamarack said:

Never heard of an albino marten before, but most mammals produce very rare albino offspring so it's certainly possible.  A long-tailed weasel is about 2/3 the size of a marten and always turns white, just like it's much smaller short-tailed weasel.  I think both species are called ermine when white.

Yep you are right.  An Ermine not a Marten.  A big one.  I guess they are not particularly rare after all.

[HIPPYVALLEY]

8 hours ago, TauntonBlizzard2013 said:

Interesting, how long would it take to discover and record a breeding population? Curious if they could be moving this way.

Federal and state authorities have no interest in confirmation of a breeding population because it would require additional expenditures for tracking and protection.  

[mreaves]

My friend took this video of 3 fisher cats playing in his backyard in Essex Jct. VT. The quality isn’t great. He might have borrowed Ginxy’s camera. 

[tamarack]

19 hours ago, wx2fish said:

My grandfather claimed he saw one in Andover like 20 years ago

Ken Allen, who for decades wrote hunting and fishing columns for the Waterville and Augusta papers, recounted 2 possible mountain lion sightings.  One came as he was driving south from Greenville at dusk with light rain.  The animal crossed right to left in front of him, so he braked and backed up for a better look.  There at the mouth of an old road was a big golden retriever.  The other gave Ken a good look, with cat face and long tail visible.  Two conclusions:  There are valid lion sightings, and even experts can be fooled.

[ORH_wxman]

3 hours ago, tamarack said:

Ken Allen, who for decades wrote hunting and fishing columns for the Waterville and Augusta papers, recounted 2 possible mountain lion sightings.  One came as he was driving south from Greenville at dusk with light rain.  The animal crossed right to left in front of him, so he braked and backed up for a better look.  There at the mouth of an old road was a big golden retriever.  The other gave Ken a good look, with cat face and long tail visible.  Two conclusions:  There are valid lion sightings, and even experts can be fooled.

I used to be fascinated by this stuff (still am but less time these days to research it)….and the overwhelming majority of cougar sightings are just mistaken identity. A lot of times it’s just a large Bobcat where the tail may appear to be longer from a certain angle. 
 

But yeah, there are occasional confirmed sightings. Most of which are escaped captives in New England. In Massachusetts there have only been two confirmed sightings in modern times…the first I remember well back in 1997 they found scat near Quabbin reservoir and DNA analysis confirmed it was mountain lion. It caused quite a huge stir at the time but after deeper investigation, it was believed to be an escaped captive.
 

The second confirmed occurrence was in 2011 and was believed to be the same mountain lion that was killed in CT a few months later that had traveled all the way from South Dakota. This was also spotted near Quabbin in the winter and trackers who went to investigate found clear cougar footprints in the snow that ended up being consistent with the paw size of the cougar killed in CT later that summer. 

[Typhoon Tip]

1 hour ago, ORH_wxman said:

I used to be fascinated by this stuff (still am but less time these days to research it)….and the overwhelming majority of cougar sightings are just mistaken identity. A lot of times it’s just a large Bobcat where the tail may appear to be longer from a certain angle. 
 

But yeah, there are occasional confirmed sightings. Most of which are escaped captives in New England. In Massachusetts there have only been two confirmed sightings in modern times…the first I remember well back in 1997 they found scat near Quabbin reservoir and DNA analysis confirmed it was mountain lion. It caused quite a huge stir at the time but after deeper investigation, it was believed to be an escaped captive.
 

The second confirmed occurrence was in 2011 and was believed to be the same mountain lion that was killed in CT a few months later that had traveled all the way from South Dakota. This was also spotted near Quabbin in the winter and trackers who went to investigate found clear cougar footprints in the snow that ended up being consistent with the paw size of the cougar killed in CT later that summer. 

Some day a pregnant cougar will migrate like that male did ... and at the same time, some male will have too.  Then the female kittens will grow up and the male will bang 'em and next thing you know, there's a fledgling population. 

 

[HoarfrostHubb]

Here is a link to an article about the scat found near Quabbin in 1997

http://foquabbin.org/the-watershed/cougar/
 

[DavisStraight]

44 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

Here is a link to an article about the scat found near Quabbin in 1997

http://foquabbin.org/the-watershed/cougar/
 

Cat scat, where would one released into the wild come from, a zoo?

[HoarfrostHubb]

24 minutes ago, DavisStraight said:

Cat scat, where would one released into the wild come from, a zoo?

Some people think they can have them as pets.    

[ORH_wxman]

18 minutes ago, DavisStraight said:

Cat scat, where would one released into the wild come from, a zoo?

Yes…could be a smaller type exotic animal farm too…or someone owning them as pets illegally (actually relatively common). 
 

2 hours ago, Typhoon Tip said:

Some day a pregnant cougar will migrate like that male did ... and at the same time, some male will have too.  Then the female kittens will grow up and the male will bang 'em and next thing you know, there's a fledgling population. 

 

This scenario is really unlikely any time soon though because the females rarely wander too far from their mother’s home range. Males OTOH will wander quite a bit further in search of their own territory. We’d prob need to see a breeding population within a couple hundred miles for it to be realistic. 
 

Most likely scenario is public support for a reintroduction program increases enough that it happens. They’ve had studies on it and estimate it would prob save 100-200 lives over a decade because of so many fewer deer collisions on the road…where would far outweigh any rogue cougar attack (it would be surprising to get more than a couple in a decade for a reintroduction program in New England). But we’re still prob a ways off some serious discussion. 

[CoastalWx]

I think I remember that story. Crazy.

[CoastalWx]

Here is one for the audience.......I saw some sort of a turkey fight with two males yesterday. Literally for 15 min one of the turkey's had the other turkey's head in its mouth. I have never seen anything like that, and they did not give a crap that I had a rake trying to shoo them away.  They weren't really physical with each other, but I have to assume it was some sort of dispute. One of the most bizarre things I've seen. They were just pushing each other back and forth.

 

[tunafish]

12 hours ago, CoastalWx said:

Here is one for the audience.......I saw some sort of a turkey fight with two males yesterday. Literally for 15 min one of the turkey's had the other turkey's head in its mouth. I have never seen anything like that, and they did not give a crap that I had a rake trying to shoo them away.  They weren't really physical with each other, but I have to assume it was some sort of dispute. One of the most bizarre things I've seen. They were just pushing each other back and forth.

 

The lack of trackable winter threats is getting to everyone.  Even the turkeys who don't post here.

[CoastalWx]

46 minutes ago, tunafish said:

The lack of trackable winter threats is getting to everyone.  Even the turkeys who don't post here.

It was so strange lol. I’ve never seen anything like it. 

[RUNNAWAYICEBERG]

1 hour ago, CoastalWx said:

Here is one for the audience.......I saw some sort of a turkey fight with two males yesterday. Literally for 15 min one of the turkey's had the other turkey's head in its mouth. I have never seen anything like that, and they did not give a crap that I had a rake trying to shoo them away.  They weren't really physical with each other, but I have to assume it was some sort of dispute. One of the most bizarre things I've seen. They were just pushing each other back and forth.

 

Fighting over who will be sacrificed later in the month?

[DavisStraight]

29 minutes ago, RUNNAWAYICEBERG said:

Fighting over who will be sacrificed later in the month?

You don't want one of those turkeys on your Thanksgiving table. Butter ball is 10 times better.

[mreaves]

40 minutes ago, DavisStraight said:

You don't want one of those turkeys on your Thanksgiving table. Butter ball is 10 times better.

I’ll never forget the first time I had wild turkey. It was one my the. 15 year old nephew had shot. They deep fried it. I thought it was dry and I spit out a pellet. 

[RUNNAWAYICEBERG]

30 minutes ago, DavisStraight said:

You don't want one of those turkeys on your Thanksgiving table. Butter ball is 10 times better.

I’m not a butter ball fan. I like JenniO and BoarsHead. The best Ive had though was a Willie Bird. It Doesn’t get any better but they’re like $12/lb lol  

[DavisStraight]

22 minutes ago, RUNNAWAYICEBERG said:

I’m not a butter ball fan. I like JenniO and BoarsHead. The best Ive had though was a Willie Bird. It Doesn’t get any better but they’re like $12/lb lol  

All better than wild turkey, the bird, the bourbon isn't bad. BoarsHead is our favorite, all their meats are very good.

[Typhoon Tip]

12 hours ago, ORH_wxman said:

Yes…could be a smaller type exotic animal farm too…or someone owning them as pets illegally (actually relatively common). 
 

This scenario is really unlikely any time soon though because the females rarely wander too far from their mother’s home range. Males OTOH will wander quite a bit further in search of their own territory. We’d prob need to see a breeding population within a couple hundred miles for it to be realistic. 
 

Most likely scenario is public support for a reintroduction program increases enough that it happens. They’ve had studies on it and estimate it would prob save 100-200 lives over a decade because of so many fewer deer collisions on the road…where would far outweigh any rogue cougar attack (it would be surprising to get more than a couple in a decade for a reintroduction program in New England). But we’re still prob a ways off some serious discussion. 

They were here originally...some how some way -

You're the puma expert. Just "mewsing"   haha

[tunafish]

Wild story released today about hundreds of illegal grow sites in Maine purchased and managed by Chinese Nationals.

https://www.themainewire.com/2023/11/triad-weed-illegal-chinese-marijuana-grows-are-all-over-maine/

[mreaves]

18 minutes ago, tunafish said:

Wild story released today about hundreds of illegal grow sites in Maine purchased and managed by Chinese Nationals.

https://www.themainewire.com/2023/11/triad-weed-illegal-chinese-marijuana-grows-are-all-over-maine/

Wow.  That is crazy.  Who would have thought that Chinese Triads would be in Maine?  

[CoastalWx]

Might need to put one of those pins in Lewiston.