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Tuesday 11/22/05 See-sawing on winters edge and
weird compass readings.
Here we are at the end of November in one of the
warmest, and record setting wet falls, I can
remember. But I'm pretty sure that is about to
change. In fact snow is predicted here on
Thanksgiving Day afternoon. The temperatures
took a tumble last week. By Friday and Saturday
ice covered the meadow down back. When I was out
in the woods hunting over the weekend I also
noted the small ponds were skimmed over and
remained so all day and got thicker with each
passing cold night. The temperatures have warmed
this week, plus we had a warm rain overnight
last night that has wiped out any ice locally.
Still the days are growing shorter and the water
itself does not warm under such condition so is
quick to refreeze.
The heavy rain a few days ago brought the water
level right back up to a low flood stage, even
though my rain gauge showed less than an inch
fell. The ground is so saturated that the
smallest amount of rain runs right off rising
the river.
I've had a couple of weird observations that I
haven't figured out, have read nothing about in
the media, and wonder if anyone else is seeing
them.
The weirdest is my compass readings lately.
Actually it started back in early November at
deer camp. My son Adam took out his compass that
has not seen the light of day in a while and
noticed that the north pointing end was pointing
south. I actually argued with him a bit thinking
the red end was supposed to point south and the
white end north. It was a nice Silva compass he
has had for over a decade. But it was acting
backwards so he tossed it. I didn't bother
checking my Silva since I didn't need it in the
places I was hunting. But my little liquid
filled pin-on compass on my orange vest seemed
to be working fine. Now fast forward to my last
trip over on the coast last weekend to hunt a
new piece of land I have not hunted and has been
acquired by Fish and Game over the last four or
five years. I pulled my Silva out of my belly
pack to take a reading before heading off into
the woods. Yikes, mine pointed backwards too. A
few feet away the road was running east and west
as I looked at a map, so I was well orientated.
But my compass was wrong. You have to be able to
TRUST your compass. This compass, that has
served me well for over 30 years, was 180
degrees off. Some of my other compasses are
pointing off. In fact no two compasses point in
the same direction. I'm confused. I did see on
the Science Channel that earth is overdue for a
change in polarity of the planet, but it should
take 10,000 years or so to flip. Not ten weeks.
I must just be going off the deep end or
something.
The other weird observation, now supported by
trapper Mel Listen with a month in the field
trapping, is a drastic decline in small mammals
numbers locally. For me it started this summer
when there just seemed to be few chipmunks. I
also began noticing fewer dead gray squirrels on
the roads. Dead squirrels are a fact of life in
the roads around here and most days I might see
a dozen or more. But not lately. In three 8-hour
days of sitting in my tree stand in Maine I saw
only one gray squirrel and one red squirrel. I
should be seeing numbers of squirrels per hour.
With the cold snap last week I have filled my
bird feeders and platform with black oil seed
sunflowers. I have had but one red squirrel
visit so far. Usually there are gray squirrels
lined up to hop onto the platform and fight for
position. None yet!
Last winter into this spring I had a number of
calls from people who saw gray squirrels simply
drop dead in front of them; one caller reported
one falling out of a tree and landed dead. Is
there some disease hitting the rodent population
this year I have to wonder? When I saw Mel last
night at the NH Wildlife Federation meeting he
says that mice and squirrels numbers are way
down in the large area he traps in Strafford
county. Fortunately Fish and Game has a small
game report form as well as a bow hunter
wildlife observation form. So a science based
survey is underway this fall. These volunteer
hunter surveys should document and significant
changes in squirrel numbers state wide. But if
we have had a drastic reduction in small mammals
it is sure to echo a decline in predator numbers
from foxes and fisher to hawks and owls. All
wildlife has cycles over time. Perhaps this is
one and even if it is, chances are it is just a
local event. But it sure has me wondering what
is going on around us all, yet remains for the
most part undetected.
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