As Forests Reclaim the East, Man Struggles With Nature

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Tuesday, May 21, 2002 | JAMES P. STERBA

[TroutStalker]

OXFORD, Mass. -- Don LaFountain stopped his pickup beside a beaver swamp along Route 12 opposite a Wal-Mart and tossed out two traps that look like wire-mesh suitcases. He baited and set the traps, lowering them into water not 15 feet from the buzzing morning traffic.

[remaininlight]

Very well written. So much in newspapers is written by just out of college types. And by idealists.

[Labyrinthos]

...more beavers than when Paul Revere made his midnight ride in 1775.

How do they know?

[RippleFire]

lots of people in rural areas tend to use an alternative to trapping called "high-speed lead poisoning,"

LOL!

[PLMerite]

Yeah, I wonder - was there roadkill before cars?

[TroutStalker]

...more beavers than when Paul Revere made his midnight ride in 1775.

How do they know?

Virtually all the coastal plain beavers between Maine and the Carolinas were caught and sold to the Manhattan Dutch by 1650. They were all but gone east of the Appalachians by 1700, virtually extinct in Massachusetts by 1750.

Economics. The pelts used to be valuable, now they are almost worthless.

[TroutStalker]

My favorite line as well.

[metesky]

National Wildlife Control Operators Association

[Varda]

Great Article!
eastern third of the United States, a region whose image of end-to-end metropolises ringed with industrial belts, malls and traffic jams
My husbands cousins from California had exactly this impression of the east. They were just stunned that there are huge wildernesses here.
One little thing. I'd say wolves have reappeared in the east. Eastern coyotes are actually Canadian gray wolf/coyote crosses and they are everywhere.

[DoctorHydrocal]

Trappers killed around 2,000 beavers annually in Massachusetts before the ban, less than 100 after it. Soon state wildlife agents were inundated with beaver complaints: flood problems for the most part. The trapping season was extended. It didn't help........"I've heard of $1,000-plus site visits," says Chrissie Henner, the wildlife department's fur bearer project leader.

"It's outrageous," says Stephanie Hagopian, the MSPCA's "living with wildlife" program coordinator. "When people pay that and get no long-term solution, they start to hate the animals."

An excellent example of the Law of Unintended Consequences!

[TroutStalker]

My wife and I were back in Central PA several weeks ago, and spent time fishing and hiking along a number of streams. Mrs. TS, having lived her entire life in Kansas, is always impressed with the vast amount of forest lands. I keep reminding her that when we retire it will be easier to hike in the forest shade on rolling mountains than on barren Rockies at 7,000+ feet.

A fishing buddy who lives there confirms that coyotes have really moved into the area. I hadn't heard about the coyote/wolf mix though.

[mutchdutch]

"Mr. LaFountain performs euthanasia with a .22-caliber pistol "

This guy has got it all wrong. He should take them to the richest neighborhood and release them. He could create a whole valuable industry.............needs to think creatively.

[Varda]

The middle of Pennsylvania is almost totally forest. I love the eastern woodlands and the beautiful trout streams. Watch out for bears though and I've heard mountain lions are making a comeback too. Bald eagles have moved onto the Youghiogheny River Lake. The fishing is good there. Fishing is a great reason to get out to the woods.
Wolf/coyote crosses...yeah I was surprised when I found this out. I always noticed that eastern coyotes don't look like western coyotes but I didn't know why. Turns out genetic testing has been done and that's what found the cross.

[TroutStalker]

Thought you might find this interesting.

[John H K]

I was coach of a speech and debate team in NY State, and when we went to NJ people from around the country were blown away; MOST of New Jersey is NOTHING; NW NJ is forested hills, most of southern NJ is a gigantic scrub pine forest where barely anyone lives. But it's the most densely populated state in the country.

What's that statistic where you could fit the entire population of the world, giving each person a small apartment, into a 40 mile by 40 mile by 40 mile cube or something?

[Hot Tabasco]

Several years ago where I now live (Just north of Detroit) but was previously my parents house, a new subdivision with a medium size creek flowing thru it adjacent to my sub was having problems with someone coming in at night and cutting down newly planted trees in the residents' backyards. This made the tv news and local newspapers.

Well, from the first picture I knew right away that it was beavers. It took the local county sheriff dept. and the residents about a week and a half to discover who the culprits were and catch them. It was hilarious!

[Focault's Pendulum]

MOST of New Jersey is NOTHING; NW NJ is forested hills, most of southern NJ is a gigantic scrub pine forest where barely anyone lives. But it's the most densely populated state in the country.

It's documented that New Jersey has the highest population per square mile in the nation......and %60 of it is still rural, farmland,and grass plains and forest. Wharton State Forest in the Pine Barrens consists of 108,000 acres of relatively unspoiled wilderness, boasting a large resurgence of coyote. Go figure!

[pt17]

Actual Observations While Motorcycling In MA:

1. Excluding the non-feathered kind, turkeys are now everywhere in MA. The feathered variety can be seen every day around the perimeter of Hanscom Field/AFB.
2. Moose are are frequently seen within 15 to 35 miles of Boston. They're becoming so prevalent that there's a real probability that someone's sister will get bitten soon.
3. Bikers really have to look out for the deer and bears that regularly pop out onto the roads. I've had multiple close calls with both in the last several years.
4. You can see coyotes in the burbs.
5. Way back when Digital Equipment was alive, one of their major manufacturing plants fought a war against two beavers (that were flooding the facility) and lost. 6. Skunks are everywhere!

(I am not making this up)

[ninonitti]

How about this-I'm in 02120 within Boston and have seen raccoon, fox, possum, pheasant, skunk and wild turkey here.