General Q&A about the great outdoors and outdoor pursuits.
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I enjoy hiking but I don't give away some gadgets like flashlight (if hiking at night) and a smartphone for the GPS. I recently took a long hike that went well into the night (about 18 hours hiking...
I recently came across a hiking boot maker with a front page photo showing someone walking off trail in ankle high boots that are untied. Source This seems to be a current fashion trend, and if...
I ask this question because I met them often in the forest. In the most cases they only run away but in one case the boar blocked our way through a valley. It only looked at us. It did not attack b...
I posted this on travel.stackexchange.com originally, but it was recommended that I post here as well. Let me know if the question is off-topic and I'll remove it. I am visiting Kauai shortly and ...
A triple broadhead has three edges equally attached around the shaft while a double broadhead has only two blades. Triple broadhead: So, which one should one use to hunt boars? A double- or tri...
In the area where I live, I have periodically seen a rattle snake when hiking, occasionally at the ready to strike pose. What should I do?
Last night I was walking my dog when I came across an injured racing pigeon. I've reported it to the owner who's coming to pick it up today, providing it's survived the night..... I was thinking m...
Pigeon meat is good! 1 squab (whole pigeon) has 37g of protein which is the majority of most people's daily needs. On top of that wild pigeon has practically no carbon footprint, which is impressiv...
I've never heard of a bird besides the Albatross which is able to use "Dynamic Soaring". Am I able to draw any conclusions out of this behavior? Like, can I say "it's definitely an Albatross" or "i...
The newsletter from the Virginia Wildlife Rescue League reported the following incident. A man, his partner and her 4 year old daughter were walking in Farquier County (a rural county), when they ...
The Washington Post recently reported that a juvenile owl was attacking early morning joggers on a trail near Bethesda, MD. Signs have been put up on a section of the trail reminding users that the...
Yesterday we were sitting on a porch and suddenly a wild bug appeared. It was completely black1 and had no horn etc. It just looked like a common bug without any special features. Okay, nothing spe...
Yesterday we were sitting on a porch and suddenly a wild bug appeared. It was completely black1 and had no horn etc. It just looked like a common bug without any special features. Okay, nothing spe...
I'm looking to camp in SE Oregon. At minimum, my girlfriend and I will have sleeping bags. We're open to adding a tent, fire, and other stuff as recommended. Our goal is to be able to hike around l...
Based on Wikipedia: Moose injure more people than any other wild mammal and, worldwide, only hippopotamuses injure more. In this case, what should I do to decrease the risk of being injured...
We were hiking in Colorado a couple of weeks ago (i.e., mid-June). One day, I took Trail A and my husband took Trail B. As he rounded a bend, he saw a moose on the trail about 50 feet away. He s...
Lyme disease, Lyme borreliosis, has been reported by the Centers for Disease Control as existing, or probably existing, in many of the United States. The Lyme Disease Association also reports it in...
Lately I chatted with my neighbor while the farrier was there, to provide her horses with new shoes. Later it made me wonder why they even need them. They don't have any in the wild, so why would t...
Recently a user mentioned something called Horse Boarding. At first I thought she was talking about boarding horses, like in a stable, but she was actually referring to an activity that's popular, ...
This may appear a bit opinion-based. Birds take a while and a lot of effort to build a nest. Is it okay to take that pretty nest as a sample or a show-piece to put in a personal balcony or a gard...
I noticed a couple of Sandpipers today who, after extracting a larger-than-normal morsel from the sand under the receding waves, "strutted their stuff" and dropped the morsel they had discovered fo...
For any Dr. Doolittles out there, when a seagull makes a "cooing" sound, is it more like the "miaow" of a cat, or the purring of a cat? Specifically, when the seagulls "talk" to each other, it is ...
We have American mourning doves in abundance in Massachusetts. They spend months in our yard, eating seeds both on the ground and in the feeders. They also peck around in my flower garden, so I thi...
I live in the central region of Massachusetts, United States. Last January we found this lovely bird eating suet in our suburban back yard. It's in a section of about ten feeders, mostly in the s...
It's obvious by her belly that we have a nursing squirrel, probably an Eastern Gray, Sciurus carolinensis, in our yard in Massachusetts, USA. I assume her nest is in one of our large evergreens, no...
I've a target face with an image of a squirrel. However, I'm not sure where the the kill exactly would be. I assume that it's the little brown spot beneath the arm, on the edge to the white s...
I've a target face with an image of a squirrel. However, I'm not sure where the the kill exactly would be. I assume that it's the little brown spot beneath the arm, on the edge to the white s...
I have sometimes noticed squirrels "pancaking" - lying flat on their stomachs. Unfortunately all my research into this subject has turned up hordes of "cute squirrel" photos and not much else... Se...
As far as I know the grey squirrel introduced in Germany by humans. It starts to slowly oust the common brown squirrel. Of course I feel bad for the brown squirrel but people around here act like...
In another forum, an user claimed that squirrels' teeth grow again if they are somehow lost. So, if you would pull out a tooth (please don't do this!), it would grow back again. Is this true? If ye...
There was another report recently about a fox sneaking in a house and resting in its living room. Due to the news report it was caused by the extreme cold weather. The fox didn't even bother the ma...
Rabies has a phase called "furious phase". The infected animal has symptoms which can directly affect humans. An infected dog may viciously attack any moving object, person, or animal; a cag...
So, I had this question. The answer was that we should kill a fox with rabies to help it. Rabies has a phase called "furious phase". The infected animal has symptoms which can directly affec...
When looking for trail permits for a particular trail at recreation.gov, I almost always see the status "W: Available at the Facility" for today and the next day, and rarely anything available for ...
Is it feasible to tie the rope and bucket to the well and therefore keep it outside or do the rope and bucket have to be kept inside to protect them from harmful weather? Or does the well, bucket ...
I just saw this claim on BBC news, and found it hard to believe. Annually 7,300+ car vs moose accidents in a country that is 173,000 Square Miles, that is like one collision with a moose (and prob...
We ran into a hiker on the AT last year using a kevlar back to keep out bears and rodents. He said the product was an Ursack and seemed very happy with it. However he'd never had a bear try to ge...
According to the Wikipedia page on Grizzly Bears, Mothers defending their cubs are the most prone to attacking, being responsible for 70% of fatal injuries to humans. Is there any seasonal de...
Bears and other wildlife are attracted to unusual scents, especially anything that could potentially be mistaken as food, such as often-sweet-smelling, aromatic pipe tobacco or cigars. However, you...
What should I do if I meet a wild bear in the forest? Should I run; fight for my life; climb a tree; or do nothing?
If a bear kills a human, it is usually euthanized as in the case of a grizzly bear that partially ate a man in Yellowstone It also seems likely to end sadly for the bears. Park officials have c...
This interesting pebble caught my eye the other day when I was wandering around on an Anglesey beach in Wales, UK but I haven't a clue what sort of rock it is and what has caused the little holes i...
When researching for my field journal, I found this mushroom but I can't identify it. I was in Northeastern MA.
The tree kind of resembles an ash but has green buds, there are pinnate leaflets with rounded tips close up of leaflets edit This tree is located in Cambidgeshire in the United Kingdom
What are these bugs on my porch and how can I get rid of them? They latch onto the siding upside-down or sideways and stay there for weeks. I've never seen them move. I noticed they had moved posit...
I recently moved to southern Virginia near the coast (about 15 miles in from it). All over the ground are these spiky balls that I assume contain seeds to the tree they fall off of. There are lit...
These were in abundance throughout Germany and looks kinda strange.
My last question provided me with a very thorough answer and I'm hoping for the same thing with this one. Another kind of tree in my area (southeast Virginia) produces these long seed pods with se...
Note: An update has been added to this post, and is found below the first set of pictures. I live in Central Massachusetts, in the town of Holden. We're on the border of the large city of Worces...
I recognized a bunch of obstacles in an area where I often hike lately. They popped up half a year ago and are spread along our local river. It seems like they are aligned to a trail. I have not m...
