Biodiversity

One strange thing about this place when we arrived was a lack of wild life and a narrow range of plant life. We could not tell if it had to do with our proximity to the highway or the atv trail or something else. Each year, I notice something that was not here before.

This spring, for example, we had dandelions for the first time. That seems almost impossible to believe, I know, but there was a line that crept from the front field. By the end of summer, there were a couple of dandelion flowers on the back margin of the channel. I keep wondering what our soil lacks or what the previous owners did to make the ground inhospitable to dandelions. I know they are not an ideal thing to have in a hay field, but the cow does eat them and they are good for the soil, so I see no harm in having them in our pasture.

Red clover, which we seeded in one pasture, is working it's way slowly into all four pastures and up around the house.

We have also seen more frogs each summer. This past summer, a couple of toads showed up in the front beds and the house garden. I made places that might be good homes for toads, as I hope for many more will come and stay.

We hang a bird feeder each autumn, and before this year, we only had chickadees and a couple of blue jays visit. This year, we've had our regulars, but also a nuthatch, pine siskin, house sparrow, and a wood pecker. Also, the hummingbird feeder had a pretty steady visitor this past summer.

We have known there are chipmunks and red squirrels, because the cats leave their remains in obvious paces. However, the red squirrels seemed much closer to the house this summer; they sassed us as we went through the garage door and as I worked in the house garden. And gray squirrels, which have been moving ever north and east across Vermont, showed up about three weeks ago in the trees around the front pasture. We'll see whether they stay through the winter.

Each new plant or animal seems like good news, even the ones that might be considered pests.

Skunk!

One evening maybe two months ago, Jason and I saw a skunk crossing the pasture. It was just about dark, and we might not have seen him if not for that glowing white stripe. Still, it was no big deal because he acted the way skunks are supposed to; he ambled the other way. And we acted like we were supposed to- we locked up the chickens and skedaddled!

We have seen him a couple more times- usually first thing in the morning, right before the sun is up. He has not caused any trouble, and I kind of like skunks. Yes, yes, of course, they can stink, but if you leave them alone, they just go about their business. They're not like raccoons or any weasel cousins. They will kill a chicken, but they mostly don't kill grown ones.. They will steal eggs, but they don't climb for them. I think they can dig in the garden, but I haven't seen any evidence of it. And, if you keep bees, they'll stand right by the little bee door and eat the bees just as fast as the bees will fly out.

Mostly, our skunk seems to keep house for us by cleaning up spilled chicken food or if the children have left something like melon rind in the yard it will disappear by morning. He has been a pretty good neighbor, and we have given him wide berth.

Until tonight...

My friend and I were enjoying a bit of knitting and a brownie. Jason was gone (as always seems to happen when a skunk causes trouble). It had gotten dark and she was saying she should start home soon because she cycled here. Suddenly, the room was awash in that special skunk smell that isn't exactly bad- it's just too strong and too pungent and too everything. Nico was at my feet, so I knew Elmer had once again been skunked.

Now, he's locked in the garage. I'll deal with him in the morning and we'll be a bit more careful about letting him out in the evening. I am thinking hopefully that the smell that wafted in the windows will dissipate before I turn in for the night. Oh! to be so lucky!

Tracks

One really neat thing about snow is that you can see who has passed through while you were not looking.  So far, we have only had fox tracks, but that's still pretty exciting.

In Shelburne, we regularly saw deer, rabbit, skunk, turkey, and fox.  We occasionally saw coyote and bobcat.

In Johnson, we saw deer and mice tracks, and occasionally moose.

I haven't seen a bear track, yet, but they probably don't trudge through snow very often.

Our spot seems strangely quiet as far as wildlife is concerned.  I have a few theories as to why, but I am not certain how I'll ever know.  We are close to town and a state highway (for the Texans, this has less traffic than Trail Lake in Fort Worth or Duval in Austin, much less).  We were near an even busier road and denser population in Shelburne, but there was Nature Conservancy land right out our back door.  Also, there was less snow.  We live on the south side of a hill, so I keep thinking we should see more deer tracks.  We have seen other evidence of deer before we had snow, like scat and bedding places.  I haven't seen any sign of rabbits.  Maybe the ATV trail is more disruptive to wildlife than I understand; it does not actually have that much traffic, but it also does not offer much in the way of habitat.  Even the railroad in Shelburne had "wild" space in its easement.  Not sure...