Critters

[MikeK]

since we eat great food up in the hills and wipe the grease on the pants....some dangerous critters can be seen skulking in the shadows trailing us...TM

Hahahaha - that's the funniest thing you've ever written. The spirit of Ron's Corner must be wearing off on you.

What dangerous critters do you have in the VT BC? Coyotes? Bobcat? Black Bears? A house cat?

[MikeK]

[lowangle al]

[quote="connyro"]
You know TM, you can wipe your hands on things OTHER than your pants;)

If you use a napkin do it before you blow your nose in it.

[Teleman]

Missin the point....say a pointed branch is lined up with your thigh.... your twisted and can't avoid some contact...but your armored up...Smash that whip and no drip....blood that is.....They work in all conditions and are not very heavy....over the years they get softer and softer.....Plus when wearing them your NOT part of the in crowd...and your NOT going where the in crowd goes.....The only critters that see them are Moose...er...and some of the Kingdom Tele Boys....what's the difference?...TM

[MikeK]

The moose are after your greasy chaps? They are vegetarians (herbivores) as far as I know...

Whatever those critters are skulking in the shadows, get a picture!

[lowangle al]

The moose are after your greasy chaps? They are vegetarians (herbivores) as far as I know...

Whatever those critters are skulking in the shadows, get a picture!

This may have some truth to it, earlier this season my wife and I got approached by an aggresive cow moose. We saw the cow lying down about 50 or 60 yards from the meadow we were skiing. We took off our skis and had a lunch break at the edge of a tree line. I had just clipped back into my bindings and I heard footsteps. Looking up I expected to see another skier who followed our tracks but it was the moose less than 20 feet away coming towards us. I yelled at it but it didn't even break stride. I told my wife to go through the gap in the trees to get to the other side of the tree line. She only had one ski on at this point but managed to get through the trees before she fell. The moose didn't follow us through the gap. It stopped were we had lunch and was pawing at the snow with its hoof. I think she was curious about the smell of our food and was checking it out, my wife thought it was getting ready to charge, like a bull.

One thing I know is that if the moose wanted to do us harm we never would have gotten out of the way in time. I do think that it had an agenda and I wonder how it would have went down if we were'nt able to get out of its way.

When my wife was floundering on the snow with one ski on and one off, with the moose pawing at the snow 10 feet away, I pretty sure she came close to needing new underware.

[MikeK]

Wow - I'm sure they do get hungry in the winter and their sense of smell has to be amazing.

I question what she was after... might not have been the meat and bread.

Anyway, Teleman... if you see a moose stalking you. TAKE A PICTURE! (and then get behind a tree!!).

[lowangle al]

I never would have thought a moose would come looking for your lunch but after this incident i think its possible.

[Teleman]

Sure Ron meets up with them often in North Idaho....Have had several encounters....mostly benign...Still I am ready to book if they get "stupit".....Have seen Bear, coyote.... very large cat tracks...Have an out of focus Bear also.... Couple of our wives touring up in nowhere had a moose cross their track this year....Seems like they are moving to new areas for food the snow being so deep still...TM

[MikeK]

How big were the cat tracks?

Some people claim there are mountain lions in the Adriondacks (and I'd assume VT) but there's never been any real proof.

Bobcat tracks are usually about in the 2" range, or so I read. My wife found these (hard to see on computer screen and our camera sucks):



Same width as my ski in the center, about 2" and definitely feline. They were all up and down a gully nearby and there was a dead turkey not too far away. My wife thinks he got the turkey, I think the turkey got taken down or died some other way and he was picking at it. I bet he had a nice log or den somewhere in that gulley.

Had a bobcat stalk a campsite of ours one night. I never got a look at the body but saw the face and the eyes. It was a kitty! He didn't bother us.

Was talking to another guy recently who said he was scared of coyotes. I asked him if he ever saw one. Most I've seen are pretty small. They make some horrific noises, especially at night but I don't think they'd bother a human.

Anyway I don't consider those critters dangerous. The moose is probably the one that could really cause problems if provoked.