Foxes
Are there bunnies in your garden this summer? In our neighborhood at least one family of foxes seems to be keeping the bunny population in check. Several recent evenings we have spotted as many as three kits scampering about. Morning walks to the strawberry patch have revealed heaps of feathers, fur and bones, as well as ropes of intestines strewn across the yard. But the lettuce crop remains robust!
The eastern wild turkey, a member of the galliformes order, is a delicious mouthful for man or beast. One of five distinct subspecies of wild turkey found in the U.S., it is also the most widely distributed. Benjamin Franklin called the turkey a “bird of courage” and urged that it, rather than the bald eagle, become our national symbol. He called the eagle a “bird of bad moral character” and a “real coward” that stole fish from other species, such as the osprey.
As realtors say, “location, location, location.” Elmore Mountain, while technically at the northern end of the Worcester Range, is quite isolated, and no mountains block its views. The Elmore State Park website recommends taking the 4.0-mile loop trail clockwise, hiking up the shorter (1.74 mile) but steeper and rockier Fire Tower Trail and down the beautiful and more gradual 2.3-mile Ridge Trail.