Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[viking01]

Thanks! For the moment they are very keen to help out, be that in the garage tinkering on something or the other, in the garden or in the woods

 

[1project2many]

All didn't go according to plan though , I found out that the hornets are still out
And I have to take the RonCo Lh 1.0 back to the shop for a little more "beef" .

I guess in my exuberance I exceeded the weight capacity LOL

And here I thought you'd designed in some camber for high speed cornering!

 

[1project2many]

There is not much worse than finding a hole in the side of your cabin and Porkys inside when you arrive. They are filthy, destructive animals that eat almost anything and piss & crap on everything else.

Fishercats will reduce the porcupine count dramatically. I've got one, fat porky that I see in the top of a big, white Oak from time to time but there are very few small ones thanks to the Fishers.

 

[mainewoods]

I leave a cedar strip canoe I built, on one of my favorite remote trout ponds, and the "pines" ate 4 paddles, both hand caned seats and the gunwales. I made a seat from an old stump and carved a paddle from a slab of pine and went fishing. If anyone had seen me paddling that canoe they would have thought I was a little crazy, but it got me out to the deep hole and I caught a 5 lb. brookie, in spite of those damn "pines".

 

[hardpan]

I have never been around porcupines. I didn't know they were so destructive. Do the adults have any natural predators to fear, other than us 2 leggers?

 

[wudpirat]

Got any stumps you want removed?
Just pee on them and the porkeys will remove them.
Anything with salt on it is fair game, axe handles, canoe paddles etc, but tires?
Maybe fido used it to mark his territory.

No porkey problem here, just dam building beavers, pluged the stream in the back yard.
Got a fair sized pond back there, the trout will like it come winter.
I could use it to skid a dead white oak across the ice come cold weather, thinking ahead.

 

[svk]

I have never been around porcupines. I didn't know they were so destructive. Do the adults have any natural predators to fear, other than us 2 leggers?

Just fishers. I guess they reach under them and flip them over then kill them.

My animal nemesis is definitely Mr Beaver. It's nonstop at our cabin with them.

 

[MustangMike]

As far as I know, the Fisher is the only natural enemy, they know how to flip them w/o getting quilled. Unfortunately, they are rare. If U got any for sale, let me know Ha Ha Ha! In the winter, they make so many paths through the snow you can not believe it.

I guess when the Bears, Coyotes and Bobcats can't get ya, life it good!

 

[mainewoods]

They are slow moving, and that makes them irresistible to dogs. A face full of quills is not a pleasant thing. Coyotes and foxes, to name a few, have been found dead or near death and emaciated, because they couldn't eat, from an encounter with a porcupine. There are no quills on the porcupines face. Fishers grab them by the face and flip them over onto their backs where they attack the belly( also no quills) and kill them. Coyotes, black bears and bobcat will also kill porcupines.

 

[svk]

If U got any for sale, let me know Ha Ha Ha!

I guess when the Bears, Coyotes and Bobcats can't get ya, life it good!

On that note IIRC the only predator of skunks are great horned owls.

We used to have a really big fisher by my old house. Thing was the size of a badger. You would only see it when it crossed the road from time to time.

 

[1project2many]

Do the adults have any natural predators to fear, other than us 2 leggers?

Look for Fishercat videos on the web. They're pretty aggressive. They flip the porkys over and attack the belly.

My animal nemesis is definitely Mr Beaver. It's nonstop at our cabin with them.

Ahhh... great story from a small town in Massachusetts. MA stopped trapping and hunting of Beaver in the late '80s or early '90s(as I remember it) and maybe even released some into the wild to rebuild the population. A pair of beavers builds a dam at a culvert under the only road through the center of town shortly after. The wetland next to the road floods until water is level with the road. Townsfolk want to remove the beavers but the state says "No!" So the town brings in an excavator and opens the dam. About a week later, the dam is back, bigger than ever, and the water level is up to the road. So the town clears out the dam and takes out as much dead wood and a bunch of live trees as they can, clearing a wide area around the water next to the road. Worked for a while. But pretty quickly the beavers got enough wood together to rebuild the dam. I used to drive through this town sometimes on my way to work and I knew a few of the people involved so it was entertaining to watch this battle. Man vs Nature and all... So now the town officials are trying to get permission to trap the beavers, the dam is left in place, and the water level stays within inches of the road for several weeks with no changes. I guess someone else was having fun watching the battle, too, and must have grown bored waiting for the town because one evening as I passed the beaver dam I spotted something new at the dam site. A hand painted 4 X 8 sheet of plywood was set up like a scoreboard reading "Beavers: 2 Town: 0."

Officially the beavers abandoned the site for an unknown reason. Unofficially, I heard they were harassed by small explosives until they left. I dunno, but after a few more months they were gone to never return.

 

[MustangMike]

Clint, you may be right, but they must not do it often. There are lots of Black Bears & Coyotes up at my property, and they don't seem to put a dent in the Porky population.

 

[hardpan]

On that note IIRC the only predator of skunks are great horned owls.

We used to have a really big fisher by my old house. Thing was the size of a badger. You would only see it when it crossed the road from time to time.

I guess I need bigger owls. Skunks are in my yard often and my 2 house dogs are slow in learning the difference between cat and "pole cat". Both dogs have been sprayed 3 or 4 times. Baking soda and peroxide solution is the best wash I have found to almost get the smell off.

 

[hardpan]

Look for Fishercat videos on the web. They're pretty aggressive. They flip the porkys over and attack the belly.


Ahhh... great story from a small town in Massachusetts. MA stopped trapping and hunting of Beaver in the late '80s or early '90s(as I remember it) and maybe even released some into the wild to rebuild the population. A pair of beavers builds a dam at a culvert under the only road through the center of town shortly after. The wetland next to the road floods until water is level with the road. Townsfolk want to remove the beavers but the state says "No!" So the town brings in an excavator and opens the dam. About a week later, the dam is back, bigger than ever, and the water level is up to the road. So the town clears out the dam and takes out as much dead wood and a bunch of live trees as they can, clearing a wide area around the water next to the road. Worked for a while. But pretty quickly the beavers got enough wood together to rebuild the dam. I used to drive through this town sometimes on my way to work and I knew a few of the people involved so it was entertaining to watch this battle. Man vs Nature and all... So now the town officials are trying to get permission to trap the beavers, the dam is left in place, and the water level stays within inches of the road for several weeks with no changes. I guess someone else was having fun watching the battle, too, and must have grown bored waiting for the town because one evening as I passed the beaver dam I spotted something new at the dam site. A hand painted, 4 X 8 sheet of plywood, was set up like a scoreboard and read "Beavers: 2 Town: 0."

Officially the beavers abandoned the site for an unknown reason. Unofficially, I heard they were harassed by small explosives until they left. I dunno, but after a few more months they were gone to never return.

Beaver are a big problem for farmers and coal mines here. I am a coal miner and we learned a long time ago that the beaver must be killed or relocated to stop his destruction. Their dam building is natural genius but you can dig out a dam one day with a backhoe and they might rebuild it in one night. It is amusing if it is someone else's problem but people have lost control of a lot of their land when it is designated as a wetland. Beaver trapping has become quite popular around here.

 

[mainewoods]

It sure isn't often enough Mike. They are everywhere. Roads are littered with dead ones. I don't know how may times hunters and trappers have told me about quilled coyotes and bears they've gotten. No closed season on them up here, and you can hunt them 365 days a year with no bag limit. Just about anything that has been touched by human's, they will eat. They love salt. Sure make a mess of a cabin once they get inside. They swing their tails like a club and drive those quills deep into anything that gets close enough. Fishers are great predators but they love to kill cats as much as they do "pines".

 

[1project2many]

It is amusing if it is someone else's problem but people have lost control of a lot of their land when it is designated as a wetland. Beaver trapping has become quite popular around here.

Agreed. NH has a different attitude by far. I know someone who actively, legally traps here.

BTW, have you read these dam letters? True story.

http://www.getipm.com/personal/dam.htm

 

[zogger]

Had a momma porky move in under my cabin in Maine, then she had kits. When they first started mewling for their momma it freaked me out! Sounded like a human baby crying.

My friend other side f the lake up there had one of his dogs get nauiled, I got the quills out by clipping them, shooting some vinegar in there, and pulling. dog still didn't like it much, but I got the job done.

I personally never had a problem with them destroying my stuff, mostly rats and squirrels have done the chewing stuff up bit.

Beavers here want to plug up the overflow pipe for the big pond, but, once it gets to that point, I just rake it out every day and remove the rock and let it flow until evening. they don't seem to want to rebuild it during the day, and I have been letting them clear around the lake some. Eventually I'll thin them out, for now, I can keep up with it and it is part of my daily walk anyway. I wanted some brush in the water for fish habitat anyway, boss was clueless on growing fish, thought a nice clean bare bottom pond would work...I told him, he didn't believe me and actually forbade me from throwing some tops in, but the guy who brought the tanker trucks of stocking fish told him the same thing, so now he gets it. He just never got the whole food chain thing, having to start with little tiny stuff. which needs shelter, to get big fish.

 

[zogger]

Agreed. NH has a different attitude by far. I know someone who actively, legally traps here.

BTW, have you read these dam letters? True story.

http://www.getipm.com/personal/dam.htm

*snort* HAHAHAHA! Good stuff, or should I say, Dam good stuff!

 

[blades]

I guess I need bigger owls. Skunks are in my yard often and my 2 house dogs are slow in learning the difference between cat and "pole cat". Both dogs have been sprayed 3 or 4 times. Baking soda and peroxide solution is the best wash I have found to almost get the smell off.

GO-JO hand cleaner without the pumice in it. Lanolin based so no harm to pups. Fooled around with dang near everything else. scent is a musk oil, oil/ grease removal is exactly what go-jo is for. rub in to coats and hose them off . 1 shot will do 99% won't dry their skin out.

 

[svk]

Baking soda and peroxide solution is the best wash I have found to almost get the smell off.

Massengill ****** works better from what I hear. Don't ask me how I know LOL