Bobcat Sightings

We've seen quite a few bobcats lately. They must live up in the woods behind the house. We keep running into them out in the driveway.

Bobcats have a reputation for having a rather nasty disposition so we give them a wide berth when we see them. They react strangely when they know that they're being watched. Even if they appeared to be in a hurry when first spotted, they'll suddenly start biding their time. Often, they'll just sit down and lick their paws while they stare back.

Kristen caught a couple of pictures of this one from one of the upstairs windows.

-JC-

Strange tracks in the snow

Don't know what this animal was but it was certainly different  At first, we were thinking that it might be an otter (which is certainly possible in this area) but online pictures weren't quite right. Porcupine was close (and we've certainly seen some of those). The closest match was a groundhog / woodchuck / marmot. Guess we'll never know for sure. Our wildlife camera was pointed in the right direction but turned up nothing.

-JC-

Fun with Pyromania

I've mentioned before that the burning season in Oakham is from January 15 until May 1. Permits are free and can be obtained online. Any time that you want to burn, you call the number on the permit to see if the Fire Department feels that the weather conditions are right and to get their authorization (they probably limit the number of fires each day).

Obviously you don't want to burn when it's too dry, too windy or when it's raining. A light covering of snow on the ground doesn't hurt. Light snow flurries are optimal.

I started this burn season with five burn piles. Three were right next to each other so it made sense to burn them at the same time. Neighbor Jim offered to help and, once he sized up the situation, we got the middle pile burning good and then used his Kubota backhoe to pull the other two piles over into the flames. Those piles were off to the left of where our wildlife camera was pointed so we only got pictures of the tractor moving in and out of frame.

This week, I decided to try the next pile by myself and, as it happened, the burn was mid frame. The following is one of the 48 movie clips that were taken.

A little diesel helps things along!

I still have one pile to burn. It's out on the other side of our leach field close to Barre Road. This last pile will be a bit different. The others were primarily multiflora rose vines which were horribly tangled up with each other. This one is mostly tree branches.

It's still a long time until May so I might still cut some more brush and get it burned. We'll have to see.

-JC-

Beautiful Snowy Morning

We were supposed to have some rain last night with maybe some light snow toward dawn. I don't know if we ever got the rain but we did get 4-5" of very wet snow (the heavy kind that sticks to everything). It was kind of windy as well so it's pretty spectacular this morning.

These first pictures (bluish tone) were taken out the windows early in the morning:

Off the farmers porch. That thing that looks like a giant potted cauliflower is a rhododendron.

Also off the farmers porch.

The birds go nuts when it snows. They may never find another bite to eat!

Out the upstairs front windows. Look at the snow on the utility lines!

We went for our daily walk after breakfast and then plowed the driveway. First, I took some pictures outside the house:

The windmill was turning madly but was unable to dislodge the snow that was caked to the blades.

Across the road.

Looking toward our house from up on Maple St.. On a normal winters day, you might see the house through there.

Walking down Barre St.  Our property is along the right side to the bottom of the hill.

There's a peek at the house from Barre St.

The temperature is dropping. It was about 32° F when we got up this morning. At 10am, it's 19° with a windchill of -1°. Surprisingly, it's very clear and sunny.

-JC-