Outdoors Vermont

Letter advocates killing hunters

Darren Marcy — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:05:06 -0500

The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press ran a letter by a man that calls for the killing of hunters.

In his letter, Ethan A.H. Sims of Shelburne, writes about the opening of moose season in Vermont. Then he writes, "I suggest that before the next annual killing season, other residents be awarded legal permits to kill hunters who will be out to kill these beautiful, non-destructive animals. Or the government could just rule out of all this primitive killing."

Everybody has the right to his or her opinion and I certainly don't hold it against Mr. Sims for being an anti-hunter. I think he's misguided and we are at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to our beliefs on hunting, but he still has a right to his opinion.

What floors me, however, is that the Free Press chose to run this letter. Granted they issued an apology online and the letter has been removed from the paper's Web site. But how did it make the page in the first place?

Editorial page editor Aki Soga wrote on the Free Press' Web site, "that violates the standards of the Free Press by advocating for violence against hunters. The letter has been taken down. We apologize for our error in judgement."

Wow!

F&W reminds hunters of importation rules

Darren Marcy — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:59:48 -0500

The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department wants hunters to remember the rules regulating the importation of deer or elk from states or Canadian provinces that have have positive chronic wasting disease tests.

Any hunter who travels outside of Vermont to hunt deer or elk to a CWD-positive state need to remember that no animal can be brought back into Vermont from one of the positive states or provinces with the following exceptions:

Meat that is cut up, packaged and labeled with hunting license information and not mixed with other deer or elk during processing.
Meat that is boneless.
Hides or capes with no part of the head attached.
Clean skull-cap with antlers attached.
Antlers with no other meat or tissue attached.
Finished taxidermy heads.
Upper canine teeth with no tissue attached.

CWD is a disease of the brain and nervous system in deer and elk that is extremely infective and very difficult -- if not impossible -- to get rid of.

CWD has not been found in Vermont. The states and provinces that have had populations that have tested positive include: Alberta, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

A fine of up to $1,000 and loss of hunting and fishing licenses for one year are applicable for each deer or elk imported illegally.

For the latest information on CWD, check: www.vtfishandwildlife.com and www.cwd-info.org.

Turkey hunter shot

Darren Marcy — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:46:21 -0500

Vermont State Police and Fish & Wildlife Department game wardens responded to a report of the shooting of a hunter just after 8 a.m. Sunday in Bradford.

According to a news release, Ryan Terrill, 22, of Bradford was shot while sitting just inside the woodline near a cornfield. Terrill was fully camouflaged when Richard Sylvester, 49, of Topsham came walking from the road along the wood line.

Authorities said he shot at what he thought was a turkey, hitting Terrill.

Terrill suffered birdshot wounds to the left side of his torso and head. He was transported to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center for treatment. His immediate condition was not known.

Authorities said Sylvester attended to Terrill before going to a nearby home to call for help, then returned to again aid Terrill.

The case is being investigated by wardens and State Police detectives and the case will be reviewed by the Orange County State's Attorney once the investigation is complete.

OutdoorsVT 10-23-09

Darren Marcy — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:36:00 -0500

The bear and the phone

Using technology to fend off a black bear

When Kris Rowley was confronted by a bear while hiking this summer she didn't exactly go "MacGyver" on the ursine beast, although the man handy at getting himself out of pickles with little or no tools at his disposal would have been proud nonetheless.

Instead of whipping up a stun gun from pine cones and chewing gum, or devising a live bear trap by digging a hole with her compass lens before luring the toothy critter by dipping her shoelace into a honeycomb and dangling it over the trap, she - instead - went high tech.

She threw her cell phone at the bear.

Apparently the previously unreported iPhone app worked. She survived by running away while the bear scrolled through photos of her family and vacation.

Whew!

Another bear mauling averted.

It makes sense that Rowley would resort to technology to diffuse a tense standoff with an angry bear bent on mauling someone ... anyone ... it encountered.

She is the certified information security officer for the state of Vermont.

Whether confronted with hackers trying to break into Gov. James Douglas' e-mail account, a nasty virus that attempts to download everybody's social security numbers from their state tax documents, or a black bear on a hiking trail, she resorts to technology.

The incident was widely publicized, even going as far as being featured by Stephen Colbert, who called bears "godless killing machines."

In her defense, Rowley apparently didn't pull out her cell-phone weapon as a first resort.

She checked for her pepper spray. Then she went for her 12-gauge shotgun loaded with slugs and buckshot. Finding neither, she resorted to her phone.

The idea of calling the bear police must have slipped her mind during the frenzied rush to save herself. She had plenty of time as the bear was checking its pockets for salt and pepper.

So she chucked the phone at the bear.

The bear fell down laughing, then started nosing through her contacts list and checking her call log to see if they had any mutual friends.

While the bear was temporarily distracted, Rowley backed out of the area and beat feet for home, unaware that she wouldn't be able to call in the incident without her phone.

The bear, meanwhile, continued to go through her phone, apparently looking for a honey app, or maybe a way to search for hot bears in the local forest. Eventually, it gave up and went home where it used its home computer to log on to www.YogiBear.com and www.UrsusSingles.com.

(Editor's note: Careful, this is a family newspaper.)

OK, so I made all of that up. Except for the part about Rowley hiking, meeting a bear, throwing her cell phone, and Stephen Colbert, calling bears "godless killing machines."

But then again, you already knew that.

The facts remain.

A Vermont woman ended a semi-tense bear encounter by tossing her iPhone at it.

And why not? It's not like she could get a cell signal. This is Vermont, after all.

Most likely, and I'm sure Rowley knows this, the encounter would have probably ended the same way whether she tossed her technological device or not.

I say "I'm sure Rowley knows this," because I didn't get a chance to talk to her. Unfortunately, she was out of the office when I called and didn't get back to me in time for this column.

That might have something to do with the fact that bozos like me continue to make up dumb stuff about her encounter with a bear and writing even dumber columns and blog posts about it.

It's a hard job, but someone has to do it.

The real situation, while exciting for Rowley - and possibly the bear - probably played out in a much less exciting string of events.

Most likely, the event lasted but seconds and the bear was probably more confused than anything.

Confused or not, the bear reportedly sauntered to within about 10 yards of Rowley, despite the fact she was backing away.

The cell phone flinging is probably something Rowley would like to have back - especially considering the cost of a new iPhone.

(Insert your own jokes here about Apple, the Blackberry, AT&T, cell-phone addiction, the cost of cell service and whatever other shots you'd like to take. I won't stand in your way.)

After taking a baseball bat back to the scene of the phone-napping, and finding her chewed and clawed iPhone, Rowley had to go shopping.

(Editor's note: No jokes about women shopping please, this is a gender-friendly column.)

Not surprisingly, the "a bear ate my iPhone" didn't play at the store and Rowley was out the cost of a new phone, which makes my prepaid $20 phone look like a bargain. But then again, my phone doesn't have a bear protection app built in.

The story has grown legs in many circles. Techies love the fact it was an iPhone. Outdoor folks love the idea of meeting a bear on a trail and ending the encounter in a way they've never heard before.

(Editor's note: How about you write something about the outdoors here, CritterBoy.)

Fine.

It is estimated that there are between 4,600 and 5,700 black bears in Vermont and the population has been growing.

Despite more bears in the woods and an increase in people seeking recreation in the outdoors, encounters between people and bears are extremely rare.

So what should you do if you meet a bear on the trail or see a bear while in the woods?

First, stay calm. With very few exceptions, meeting a bear on the trail will result in the bear turning tail and disappearing before you can even realize just how lucky you just became.

If the bear doesn't disappear, stand your ground or back away slowly while talking to the bear. Most of the time, if a bear doesn't run away, it's simply confused as to what it's seeing and hearing your voice will convince the bear you are not something it wants to tangle with.

If you are wearing a pack, take it off and drop it, giving the bear something to distract its attention. And please tell me you're not carrying food. If you are, it now belongs to the bear.

In the exceedingly rare event of an attack, fight back. Use any weapon you can get your hands on and aim for the eyes and nose.

Interestingly, according to the North American Bear Center, one of the biggest misconceptions about black bears is that a person is at great risk of an attack by a sow with cubs.

According to the center, that is actually a grizzly bear trait and most charges by a black bear sow with cubs are bluffs that end with the mother bear and cubs leaving the area or climbing a tree to safety.

That would be your cue to leave.

(Editor's note: Thanks. Finally.)

Whether or not you throw your cell phone before leaving is up to you.

Darren Marcy is a local outdoor enthusiast. His Web site is www.DarrenMarcy.com. E-mail him at darren@darrenmarcy.com.

Skiing! Boarding! Seriously?

Darren Marcy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:32:34 -0500

Yep, Mount Snow took advantage of October's cold weather to put down a layer of the white stuff and took advantage of it last weekend by turning the lifts to raise funds for the Deerfield Valley Food Pantry.

More than 800 people showed up as the mountain was able to donate more than $5,000 and 1,500 food items to the pantry.

Won't be long before the snow flies for real and lifts throughout Vermont and the Northeast will be hauling people to the top of area resorts.

Dog River trout regs evaluated

Darren Marcy — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:38:55 -0500

From the Fish & Wildlife Department:

A public meeting to discuss a proposed trout fishing regulation change will be held by the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Nov. 2 at the Riverton Fire House on Route 12 in Riverton.

The Dog River has long been considered one of Vermont’s best wild trout streams with a reputation for abundant wild rainbow trout and large brown trout. Electrofishing surveys and angler creel surveys conducted by Fish & Wildlife through the 1990s confirmed this reputation by revealing high trout densities, excellent natural reproduction, good growth rates and angler catch rates.

Rainbow trout have not been stocked in the Dog River since 1961 and all stocking in the Dog River and its tributaries was discontinued in 1992. Trout population surveys conducted on the lower Dog River annually since 1991, however, show there has been a significant decline in the number of trout over six inches in recent years. Many anglers have expressed concern about a decline in fishing quality. At the same time, some anglers and game wardens have reported large wild rainbow trout and brown trout being harvested annually, particularly in the spring.

A temporary catch and release or “no-kill” regulation is proposed to reduce the harvest of wild trout in an attempt to stabilize or increase fish population densities. Other potential limiting factors also will be examined, and habitat improvements will be made.

The restriction of fishing to the use of artificial flies and lures is based on extensive studies which have shown that trout caught with natural baits have a much higher mortality rate after being released.

The proposed regulation would be on the Dog River from the Route 12 Bridge in West Berlin (Riverton) to the Junction Road Bridge in Montpelier Fishing would be by artificial flies and lures. All fish caught would be released immediately.

The regulation would be in effect from April 10, 2010 to October 31, 2015.

For further information contact: Rich Kirn, Fisheries Biologist; Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife at rich.kirn@state.vt.us or (802) 485-7566.

Kadamus gets three-year deferred sentence

Darren Marcy — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:12:35 -0500

The Associated Press is reporting that a man who shot and killed his son while turkey hunting last spring will not serve any jail time.

Kevin J. Kadamus, who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in August received a three-year deferred sentence. He will not serve any jail time if he keeps his record clean for those three years.

He has also been ordered not to hunt or possess weapons for 10 years and he must complete 150 hours of community service.

Kadamus, of Lyndon, Vt., shot and killed his son, Jacob Kadamus, 17, while the two were turkey hunting May 1. The investigation revealed that Jacob Kadamus was moving from the location where he set up and his father shot into the bushes where his son was moving.

Burlington television station WCAX reported Judge Howard Vanbenthuysen as saying that no punishment could match the one that Kevin Kadamus has inflicted on himself and that the shooting was a momentary lapse in judgement that had the most horrible of results.

OutdoorsVT 10-16-09

Darren Marcy — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:50:00 -0500

Building trails

Symposium offers skills, knowledge

Building, maintaining and managing trails isn't easy or cheap. There's the need to organize a group of people to perform the back-breaking labor whether it's putting in a trail, or maintaining one that needs work. Then there are the ever present needs for materials and tools that require money, which is always in short supply.

So whether you or your group is looking to build a section of trail, or simply maintain one that is already on the ground, it makes sense to learn how to do it right.

It also wouldn't hurt to figure out ways to obtain funding to help defray the expenses a little.

The Vermont Trails and Greenways Council's third annual Vermont Trails Symposium will send you home with a better knowledge of both issues.

The symposium will be held at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 24 at the Kehoe Education Center at Lake Bomoseen.

Aimed at trail managers, trail builders, land managers and trail enthusiasts, the seminar will feature workshops on a variety of topics including trail permitting, design, fundraising and maintenance.

"The symposium will be a great opportunity to learn how to get connected with organizations supporting our state's trail systems, and build the skills necessary to start new projects in your community," said Danny Hale, chairman of the Vermont Trails and Greenways Council, in a news release.

The event will last all day with workshops slated from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Following dinner, evening activities include "A Walk on the Wild Side," and a mixer and project share.

Some workshops will take place at the same time, but each will be offered in the morning and afternoon preventing participants from missing any of the offerings.

The Vermont Trails and Greenways Council, established by statute, plans for the future of Vermont's recreational activities, promotes the development and maintenance of trails, coordinates public and private trail efforts, encourages education programs, and recommends how funds will be allocated for Vermont's trail-funding programs.

A greenway is a natural corridor established to promote conservation along natural corridors or that link conserved areas.

Deciding where money will be allocated is one of the key duties the Vermont Trails and Greenways Council.

Walter Opuszynski, of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, serves as the secretary of the Vermont Trails and Greenways Council.

Opuszynski said federal and state money dedicated to recreation is allocated through grants, but there is never enough to go around.

"There's always much more need and demand for the money then there is money," Opuszynski said. "So there has to be a process to see how the money gets allocated."

This is the third year for the symposium.

Opuszynski said there were about 25 people the first year in Richmond, followed by 45 people last year at the event held at the Groton State Forest.

He said he expects about 50 people to attend this year, but had no numbers on registered attendees yet.

"We've been slowly increasing as word is getting out there," Opuszynski said.

The increased interest is likely a result of a growing demand for recreation trails and ways to fund them.

The Vermont Trails and Greenways Council is an interesting group in that it works for both motorized and nonmotorized recreation groups, along with community organizations and public land managers among others.

Some of the funding the group divvies up comes from a tax on fuels used by four-wheelers, snowmobiles and such machines.

Yet, the money is used for trails benefiting everyone.

According to the council's bylaws, the group has representatives from various factions of the recreation community.

"Just about any user group you can think of," Opuszynski said. "Early on, there was more nonmotorized than motorized. But it is becoming more diverse. We try to represent every user group around the table."

The agenda for the seminar shows some of that diversity with presenters from the Vermont All-Terrain Vehicles Sportsman's Association, the Vermont Department of Forest, Parks and Recreation, Northern Forest Canoe Trail and Lamoille Valley Rail Trail.

Attendees will learn skills and strategies for building and maintaining trails that will help those trails survive the ravages of Mother Nature.

"Sometimes you can design a trail, or build trail structures that won't need maintenance for 15 years, or build a trail that won't be as prone to erosion," Opuszynski said, adding that if a trail isn't constructed properly, erosion could wipe away all the hard work.

"You'll lose your trail and at the same time you're adding sediment to the watershed," Opuszynski said.

While the program sounds like it is aimed at those who build trails, Opuszynski said it is aimed at a wider audience.

"Everybody from local conservation commissions who are building trails in their town, to people who work on the Long Trail, to people who manage land," Opuszynski said.

For more information, log on to www.vermonttrailsandgreenways.org or call Walter Opuszynski, at 498-4506.

Darren Marcy is a local outdoor enthusiast. His Web site is www.DarrenMarcy.com. E-mail him at darren@darrenmarcy.com.

OutdoorsVT 10-9-09

Darren Marcy — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:55:00 -0500

Taking the pulse

Survey to evaluate GMNF usage

The Green Mountain National Forest wants to know how you recreate on the forest. For the next year, U.S. Forest Service personnel will be asking visitors to the forest to participate in a voluntary survey that will detail their usage of Forest Service land.

"The recreation surveys provide the Forest Service, states and Congress with estimates on how many people use the national forests, where they visit and which recreation opportunities they pursue," said Chad VanOrmer, Green Mountain National Forest recreation program manager.

The surveys, which are conducted every five years and were compiled in 2000 and 2005, began Oct. 1 and will continue through Sept. 30, 2010. The Forest Service will be conducting the visitor surveys on forests throughout the country.

The surveys help the Forest Service determine an estimate of how many people recreate on federal lands, what activities they engage in, how happy there were and how much money they may have spent.

They surveys include where a person recreated, how many people are in the party, how long they were on the forest, what other recreation sites the person or group visited while on the forest and how satisfied their were with the facilities and services provided.

It should take about eight minutes for the survey while about half of all participants will be asked additional questions about recreation spending during their trip, which should take an additional five minutes.

The entire survey is completely voluntary and no personal information will be collected. The financial questions are confidential.

VanOrmer said the financial questions help forest personal put a dollar figure on what people are spending while on the forest and overall while in the area.

"That helps us put an economic benefit on having a national forest in their local community," VanOrmer said.

There is no requirement to participate in the surveys.

"I would say nine out of 10 people are very open and willing to participate," VanOrmer said. "Some don't. We respect the wishes of those folks and they go on their way."

The other questions help the Forest Service determine national numbers once aggregated, but the local numbers will be used to better manage the Green Mountain National Forest, said Kristi Ponozzo, public affairs officer for the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forest.

"At our level - the forest level - they're used for more site specific information," Ponozzo said. "What could we do different to better serve our public?"

VanOrmer said the surveys also help the Forest Service better tailor its management plan to what the users want.

"What we've been doing is trying to put more emphasis into those types of recreational opportunities," he said.

VanOrmer said past surveys showed that visitors to the Green Mountain National Forest are there for viewing natural features, such as foliage; downhill skiing; wildlife viewing; hiking and walking; and relaxing.

The skiing is the result of three ski areas - Sugarbush, Mount Snow and Bromley - that are forest land permittees.

"A lot of our uses are coming from our ski areas that are under permit," VanOrmer said. "A high percentage of visitors are just out there relaxing and enjoying the scenery."

VanOrmer said the surveys will be conducted regardless of the weather conditions.

People may encounter the Forest Service personnel in developed and dispersed recreation areas as well as along Forest Service roads.

Workers will be wearing bright orange vests and there will be signs reading, "Traffic Survey Ahead."

A visitor that has already been surveyed is encouraged to participate in future surveys as well during each visit to the Green Mountain National Forest, or other national forests.

The Green Mountain National Forest is more than 400,000 acres in size and is located in southwestern and central Vermont. It is the largest contiguous piece of public land in Vermont.

According to the GMNF Web site, the forest is managed through a multiple-use ethic, providing for ecological and science-based forestry stewardship, clean water, diverse vegetation, high-value, high-quality forest products, economical and educational contributions and trail-based backcountry recreation.

It is home to three nationally designated trails - The Appalachian Trail, the Long Trail and the Robert Frost National Recreation Trail. It also hosts portions of the Catamount Trail, a long-distance cross-country ski trail.

In addition to the three alpine ski areas, there are approximately 900 miles of multiple-use trails for hiking, skiing, snowmobiling, horseback riding and bicycling.

The forest provides hunting for big- and small-game animals and lakes, ponds and rivers for fishing.

There are a variety of species of plants, including northern hardwoods, softwoods, rare and unique plants, as well as fish, birds, and numerous animals of all sizes are part of the attraction for visitors, according to the agency's Web site.

For more information, log on to www.fs.fed.us/recreation/programs/nvum or call Carol Burd, 747-6749.

Darren Marcy is a local outdoor enthusiast. His Web site is www.DarrenMarcy.com. E-mail him at darren@darrenmarcy.com.

OutdoorsVT 10-2-09

Darren Marcy — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:56:00 -0500

Eagle watch

Majestic bird becomes more common in Vt.

It wasn't all that long ago that seeing a bald eagle in Vermont was an extremely rare treat. Today, while far from a regular occurrence, the chance of seeing what many consider the most majestic bird flying is a real possibility as bald eagles have been making a return to the state.

Part of that is because Vermont is surrounded by states - and Canada - that are loaded with eagles.

But the increase in eagle numbers is also a direct result of a concerted effort by state and federal agencies, conservation groups and corporate partners working together to help the grand birds to repopulate the Green Mountain State.

Several hundred years ago, there may have been as many as a half million bald eagles in what is now the continental United States.

But their population plummeted around the turn of the 20th century, largely due to human activity that destroyed habitat as well as feather collection, bounties and a reduction in game on which eagles fed.

But no single impact harmed bald eagle population numbers like the use of the insecticide DDT, which was banned in 1972.

DDT caused the bald eagles to produce eggs with thin shells, which would crack when sat on by the adults. By the early 1960s, there were fewer than 100 bald eagles in the northeastern United States.

"The big reason eagles are coming back nationwide is stopping the use of DDT," said Lilla Lumbra, outreach coordinator for the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department. "That's really what turned around their comeback."

The birds were put on the federal endangered species list in 1967.

Protections afforded by the Endangered Species Act, as well as the DDT ban, sent the birds' on the path of a slow rebound, which was completed Aug. 9, 2007, when the bald eagle was removed from the list of threatened and endangered species.

But while the bald eagle prospered throughout the country, Vermont's eagle population lagged.

That led to the forming of the Vermont Bald Eagle Restoration Initiative, which is a collaborative project aimed at establishing a breeding population in Vermont.

Funded with federal money, thanks to former Sen. James Jeffords, the joint effort features the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Federation, Outreach for Earth Stewardship and Central Vermont Public Service.

The goal of the program is to remove the birds from the state's endangered species list.

Beginning in 2004, the restoration effort began releasing chicks into the wild and 29 bald eagles were reintroduced over three years into Vermont.

Between the released birds and those that have crossed into Vermont from surrounding states and Canada, more and more bald eagles have been seen perched in trees and soaring above the state's waters.

Last winter, a record 30 bald eagles were spotted during the Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey, continuing an upward trend seen over the last three decades.

From 1979 to 1989, an average of two eagles was seen per year, followed by an average of just more than nine eagles over the subsequent decade. From 2001 to 2006, there was an average of 15 birds counted per year.

"They're all over Vermont now," Lumbra said. "(There are) sightings all over the state. They tend to congregate wherever there's a food supply."

The majority of the eagles counted in this year's survey were spotted on Lake Champlain between the Champlain Bridge and islands, with the highest concentration being found between the Champlain Bridge and Charlotte Ferry.

Even as the numbers grow year by year and bald eagles are seen throughout Vermont, there are even higher hopes for the future.

With the reintroduction effort now five years old, some of those released birds are reaching maturity, which happens after about four to five years, and it's hoped that, within a couple of years, the restoration initiative will begin to see those birds start to nest and create their own offspring.

"We banded those birds and we're looking to see if any of those come back," Lumbra said.

Lumbra said they witnessed a couple of pairs showing signs of nesting behavior, such as becoming territorial, but it often takes several years of "practice" nesting before they actually nest.

That would be a boon to the recovery effort in the state because eagles tend to stay in the area where they fledge, Lumbra said, and Champlain is a big body of water, with open water in the winter, and is a good food source.

While Vermont has had nesting bald eagles before, the last two springs offered a big step forward.

Last year, the first successful nesting to result in a fledged eagle in many decades was witnessed. This year, there were two.

All three, however, have been on the eastern side of the state along the Connecticut River. To get eagles successfully nesting in the Champlain Valley would add to the diversity of the Vermont eagle recovery program.

Until recently, Vermont was the only state in the lower 48 states without breeding bald eagles.

There is work to be done to continue the population growth and work toward getting the bald eagle off the state endangered species list and the Vermont Bald Eagle Restoration Initiative can use your help.

Report sightings of bald eagles to director@ofes.org. If the bird has a metal leg band and you have a spotting scope or can record the number, that information will help.

Also, don't approach nesting eagles. If you accidentally get too close to a nest - sometimes resulting in the eagle calling out - back away slowly and circle wide around the nest site. Nests that are disturbed too often may be abandoned.

If you see an eagle that seems to be in trouble, call 324-4111, or contact your local game warden.

Darren Marcy is a local outdoor enthusiast. His Web site is www.DarrenMarcy.com. E-mail him at darren@darrenmarcy.com.