Thursday, June 30, 2005

CARIBOU COUNTRY JOURNAL (Part Un) ———- by Steve Nadis

I’m back from Caribou, Maine–the land of foxes and moose and flying squirrels. I learned a lot about the area from my taxi driver, Bryan, who talked about hunting (he hates “trophy hunters”), feeding the poor with road kill, and other issues I rarely consider from my urban perspective. According to Bryan, people from the city often have a hard time dealing with the sprawling vistas to be had in Caribou, which is unusual in its sense of openness for the East. Caribou is about as far north as you can get in the Northeast, close to the 47th parallel (i.e., Duluth, Minnesota) though Bryan suggested it had the same latitude as Fairbanks, Alaska, which was true give or take a few thousand miles.

My other “tour guide,” so to speak, was Mark, a weatherman who advised me of a safe “moose speed limit”–40 mph or less during the evening. Mark has a fondness for small rodents, especially the northern flying squirrels that inhabit the spruce forest surrounding his home. I had the chance to watch a number of these friendly furry critters sail through the air. They don’t fly–no flapping of wings, no thrust generated, and so forth–but they surely glide, deftly navigating through trees and brush. Steering is accomplished by moving their tail and legs. Their preferred mode of transport is pretty simple: Starting from a lofty perch on one tree, they glide slightly “downhill” to another tree, quickly scramble up, and then glide to another tree; they rest in hidden nooks that offer protection from owls and other predators. I watched the squirrels for hours with Mark and his wife, as we downed beers and swatted mosquitoes–a pleasant way to spend an evening, even with the mosquitoes.

Posted by Snake at 16:24:46
Comments

5 Responses to “CARIBOU COUNTRY JOURNAL (Part Un) ———- by Steve Nadis”

  1. Burt says:
    June 30, 2005 at 3:42 pm

    I don’t get it. Is this supposed to be funny?

  2. Snake says:
    June 30, 2005 at 3:44 pm

    You’re right; there’s nothing funny about it. One of our few readers asked me to say a few words about flying squirrels, and this was the best I could come up with. (I don’t do well under pressure.)

  3. gatemouth says:
    June 30, 2005 at 5:33 pm

    Snake–I don’t understand why someone who hates everything you write thinks everything you write is intended for him.

    I asked about the squirrels, Burt, and I was very happy to hear about them. I’m even hoping to hear more about them or other wildlife over the course of the summer.

    What I’d really rather not hear (or read) is anymore one-liners from you complaining about how unfunny Snake is. They are boring, pointless, and much less funny than the material they criticize. In fact, why don’t YOU go off and watch some flying squirrels for a few months? Maybe they’ll be interested to hear you gripe about how they’re not really flying.

  4. Snake says:
    July 3, 2005 at 3:59 pm

    Thank you Gatemouth for your supportive comments. I get very few readers, so far as I can tell, and would rather not alienate any of them. If people have negative things to say, I guess that’s OK, though I’d prefer not to receive death threats and other direct challenges to my quality of life. Meanwhile, I’ll be on the lookout for other stories involving wildlife–flying, gliding, or otherwise.

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