Category: Local Wildlife

On a trip over to Whitehall, I saw this turtle on the side of the road.

So I jammed on the brakes, grabbed my camera, jumped out of the car, and endured my wife yelling; “what are you doing!”, only to realize that the turtle hadn’t moved at all. So here is the closeup of our slow moving friend.

So after this shot, we left it there and would you believe, it was in the same spot when we returned home!

How it out-raced a hare, I’ll never know.

As you pass the pond on top of the mountain, you’ll see a beaver’s nest on the far side.

The Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake has a number of great exhibits. When I was there recently, I took a shot of this three-dimensional display which shows what the inside of a beaver’s nest looks like (Click on this picture to see it in full screen.).

The entrance is actually underwater and the beavers swim into it from below. The mud and sticks form a protective cover which hardens almost like cement. So now you know what the inside of a beaver’s house looks like.

Spotted in the early evening yesterday.

When I’m out and about I try to carry my camera with me. I am by no means a professional photographer though. When I see something unique I grab my camera, fumble with the settings and try to shoot as quickly as I can. This past weekend I spotted these two beautiful birds.

A great blue heron walking very slowly on a dock.

A beautiful red cardinal sitting high in a tree chirping like crazy in the morning.

I’ve learned you have to be really quick to shoot pictures of the local wildlife because I only got one shot of each before they flew away. I wouldn’t have made it as a gun slinger in the wild west.

A stuffed bobcat on display at the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake.

Huletts Current reader, Karen Wagner, submitted the following question:

Hi George,

There is an animal in the mountains that produces a sound like a woman sreaming! We’ve asked around, but no one seems to know what it is. I assumed it was some type of a bird. Any ideas?

I might have laughed at such a question but I was in the woods recently and heard this strange screaming sound myself!

I’ve researched this and here are some possible answers.

One possibility is the bobcat. Several sites indicate that bobcats scream when threatened. I’ve also read that bobcats, when lovesick, emit a high-pitched scream. However, this site has three bobcat sounds, as well as various other animal sounds. I must admit that none of the bobcat sounds resembled a woman’s scream.

Another good possibility is the fox, which I have seen at times near the dam. This site has examples of fox screams. (Foxcry.wav seems to be the nearest match.) Other sites I have found indicate that a fox can produce a vocalization somewhat similar to a woman screaming.

Finally it could also be a raccoon. Here is a site where you can listen to raccoon noises. Although these don’t sound exactly like what I heard.

I hope this helps. But if you hear something like a woman screaming, stay alert!

Seen on a canoe in front of the lower tennis court this morning.