Great Read: Reading Animal Signs - AMC Outdoors

Story by Allison W. Bell

AMC Outdoors, September/October 2012

A walk in the woods rewards us with glimpses of forest animals—a scampering chipmunk, a prowling toad, a trailside salamander. But sightings of lesser-known creatures are, by definition, rare. Many woodland animals are not active during the daylight, and most are shy about contact with humans. Typical hikers move with enough stomp and clomp to warn every listening thing of their approach. If we do spot an animal through the trees, it is likely to be moving quickly—away.

DID YOU KNOW?
Do not handle scat with your bare hands. Animal waste can transfer disease via contact or inhalation. Look. Use a stick. Take a photo.

Often, the presence of wild creatures is revealed to us only in the signs they leave behind. Tracks, nests, food scraps, and shed feathers or antlers are all clues to the ways and means of forest animals. And so is their scat.

Poop, feces, droppings, dung—scat by any other name will smell as sweet. OK, not quite sweet, but you may be surprised that scat of the non-domesticated kind does not often present olfactory offense. If you can get past a basic level of squeamishness, a study of these animal signs will reveal much about life in the woods.

We can analyze animal diets and habits by examining their scat. Wild woodland creatures eat local and eat (mostly) fresh, although some may contrive to mix human food into their menu.

Click Here for continued article:==> Reading Animal Signs - AMC Outdoors

MISSING CHILD BOLO: 3.5yr old, Henniker NH part 2

WMUR: Missing child in Henniker is wearing a grey "GAP" sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers.
Child is under 3 feet tall, brown hair and brown eyes.

MISSING CHILD BOLO: 3 1/2yr old, Henniker NH UPDATE 2

UPDATED: 5:32pm 10/08/12


HENNIKER, N.H. —

A 3 1/2-year-old boy reported missing in Henniker has been found safe.

Police sent out reverse calls and text and email alerts to people in a 4-mile radius as they began their search with fire officials and members of the Fish and Game Department.

Police said it's unclear how the boy made it to the Baker Road farm. Murdough said the boy's pant legs were slightly wet, so he likely went off the road and might have followed snowmobile trails.


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Read more: http://ow.ly/ejCBb


WMUR: Henniker police searching for missing 3 1/2 year old in area of Peasley Road. Last seen @ 10:45am. .@WMUR9

UPDATED: 2:11pm 10/08/2012
Henniker police said the boy, named Brody, was wearing a gray sweatshirt with "GAP" on the front, blue jeans and sneakers. He is just under 3 feet tall, weighs about 35 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes.

He was last seen in the area of 48 Peasley Road about 10:45 a.m. There is no photo of the boy yet available.

Anyone with information is asked to call Henniker police at 603-428-3213.

FOUND: Hiker near Strafford NH go missing in night rain UPDATE 2

UPDATED: 5:45pm 10/08/12

STRAFFORD, N.H. (AP) — A New Hampshire man reported missing by his family has been found safe in the woods in Strafford.

Fifty-four-year-old Francis Drown of Rochester had gone hiking on Blue Job (jobe) Mountain in Strafford on Sunday morning but did not return by evening.

About 20 people searched the woods on Sunday night but did not find him. Search teams continued on Monday morning. Drown was found by a search dog shortly before noon.

Fish and Game Department officials say he had been camping in the woods about a half mile from where his vehicle was parked near Johnsonboro Road and was unaware that people were looking for him.


STRAFFORD NH — Rescue crews gathered on Johnsonboro Road near Blue Job Mountain Sunday evening to execute a search for what officials believed to be a missing hiker or hikers.

Due to inconsistent cell phone service little was known of the party’s description as officials began canvassing the area a little before 8 p.m.


Members of New Hampshire Fish and Game along with Strafford police were on scene attempting to make contact with the lost party via cell phone, though service in the area is sparse.


A K-9 team was dispatched to pick up a track, but was unsuccessful in initial attempts. Officials attempted contact with Verizon Wireless to get a signal from the closest service tower to the lost party’s phone. Initial attempts to do so were also unsuccessful.


By 10:15 p.m. as rain began falling more heavily, search volunteers continued arriving along with an ambulance and requested N.H. Department of Forestry vehicle a well as a Gator Utility All Terrain Vehicle.

UPDATED: 9:57am 10/08/12
A search for a missing hiker or hikers continues on a New Hampshire mountain.

Searchers from the Strafford police and New Hampshire Fish and Game gathered Sunday evening to begin looking for a man who was reported missing on Blue Job (jobe) Mountain.

Fish and Game spokeswoman Jane Vachon says the search continued into Monday morning.

UPDATED: 2:02pm 10/08/12
STRAFFORD, N.H. (AP) — A 54-year-old Rochester, N.H. man is missing after going hiking on Blue Job (jobe) Mountain in Strafford.

Police say Francis Drown began his hike Sunday morning but did not return by evening.

Authorities say initial efforts to reach the man by cell phone were unsuccessful, and a dog failed to pick up the missing man’s scent.

Police say the blue-eyed, brown-haired drown was wearing camouflage plants and a tan shirt.

Police say they do not suspect foul play.

Blue Job Mountain is a mountain summit in Strafford County in the state of New Hampshire (NH). Blue Job Mountain climbs to 1,296 feet (395.02 meters) above sea level. Blue Job Mountain is located at latitude - longitude coordinates (also called lat - long coordinates or GPS coordinates) of N 43.33147 and W -71.115065.

MISSING: Jonathan Dailey, 23, Boston MA (UPDATE)

UPDATED: 7:05pm 10/09/12
BOSTON (WHDH) – The body found in the Charles River near Boston University Tuesday morning has been positively identified as missing graduate student Jonathan Dailey.

State police said Dailey’s body was spotted by a BU rowing coach at about 7:25 a.m. Tuesday. The family of the 23-year-old graduate student Jonathan Dailey was in Boston waiting to hear if the body of the person found is that of their son, who has been missing for a week. He was last seen at his apartment on Gardner Street in Allston.

UPDATED 9:32 AM EDT Oct 08, 2012

BOSTON —
A body was found Monday morning in the Charles River, but it was not clear if the person is a missing graduate student who disappeared last week.

FAMILY'S UPDATE: (VIA: Facebook Page 12:43pm)

Just got a call from the detective to assure us: there's a breaking news report about a body retrieved from the Charles River, but the state police have confirmed to the Boston police that it is not Jonathan, it's the body of an older man.

Read more: http://ow.ly/eiIxz

Friends and relatives of 23-year-old Jonathan Dailey have started a Facebook page and have spent time plastering the city with fliers.

Hunter lost in Marlow, NH, found safe

MARLOW, N.H. (AP) — A hunter who got lost in the woods in Marlow, N.H., has been found safe.

The New Hampshire Fish and Game department says 31-year-old Eric Nutting of Charlestown was deer hunting behind a friend’s home in Marlow Saturday afternoon. His family reported him missing around 9:30 p.m., and conservation officers found him around 1:15 a.m. Sunday about a half mile from his car.

With the arrival of the fall hunting season, officials are warning hunters to prepare for the unexpected by carrying a flashlight, map and compass.

Recommended Article: Maine Wife Carrying Championship goes to couple from Finland

Posted By Scott Thistle On October 7, 2012 (8:06 am) In Living, News, State

Amber Waterman | Sun Journal

NEWRY, Maine — Not everybody trained all year for the North American Wife Carrying Championships the way Dave Castro and his wife Lacey did, but most of the 50 couples that participated Saturday at the annual event at Sunday River still had a good time.

“It’s hard to tell because the course is a little different every year,” Dave Castro said waiting to see if his time would hold up. “I feel pretty good, I don’t know if I have any more.”

The event, in its 13th year, drew a crowd of spectators of between 1,500 and 2,000 people.
But in the end, defending World Champions Taisto Miettinen and Kristina Haapanen, who traveled from Helsinki, Finland — home of the World Wife Carrying Championships came out on top with a time of 52.58 seconds.

Amber Waterman | Sun Journal

Miettinen said the course in Maine was a little different from the course back home. The big difference?
“It’s more flat on our course,” Miettinen said before his qualifying heat. After the final race Miettinen said the hardest part of the course was the first uphill obstacle and said the water hazard — more of a mud pit — was more challenging than the plastic-lined water obstacles on the World Championship course in Finland.
The Finnish race also is based on the best first time, where the North American Championships feature a final race where the top finishers compete.

The prize, besides a check for $530 and some trophies crafted to look like the timber hurdles, is the winning woman’s weight in beer.

Miettinen and Haapanen displayed some Finnish sportsmanship by sharing their prize with the Castros and the second place couple, Jesse Wall and Christine Arsenault of South Paris, Maine, who got into the final race with a time of 53.22 seconds.

“Against Taisto, we went in hand-to-hand, shoulder-to-shoulder and he got that big long leg in front of my stomach and I just couldn’t quite get over it,” said Wall of the first log hurdle on the course. “I got stuck there. We lost some time to him.”

Amber Waterman | Sun Journal

Miettinen said the beer was a thank-you gift for the Castros and the other folks who helped arrange their trip to Maine. The couple planned to stay the week in the U.S. and were going to make a trip to New York City before heading back home next Saturday. Miettinen figured the prize money would come in handy on a shopping trip in the Big Apple.

Castro, a former assistant football coach at Lewiston, and his wife won the event two years ago and came in second in 2011, ended up in third place Saturday with a qualifying time of 53.66 seconds.
Castro said they put in their best effort and had a good time just the same and despite finishing two spots behind the Finns.

“You train all year long for 50 seconds but that’s the way it goes,” Castro said.
That’s pretty much the way Jason and Robin Esposito, of Wells River, Vt., felt, too — all except the part about training all year long.

Robin said the couple was at Sunday River during a vacation in August and they heard about the race and decided to come back to participate.

“We entered the race and everything but we didn’t even practice until we got here,” Jason Esposito said. “You know we ran around the parking lot a little bit when we got here.”
The couple finished in ninth place. Jason attributes it to his work as a roofer. “He trains all the time, at work,” Robin said with chuckle.
The race itself involves two-person teams — usually husband and wife — with the husband carrying the wife as she drapes herself over his shoulders.

Racers on the 260-yard course start running up a hill, cross a timber hurdle, wade through a mud-water pit, climb over a big pile of sand and then bolt for the finish line.

But the uphill start didn’t seem to slow the Finns much, the couple won their heat and went on to win the North American title for 2012.

Both the ultra fit and the somewhat flabby got in on the action and not everybody racing were super close — or even knew each other at all for that matter.

Melissa Quigley and Chris Poirier, met for the first time in person on Saturday morning.
“This is kind of a blind date for us,” said Quigley, who became Poirier’s partner in the race after his original partner couldn’t make it.

“I got the word out on Facebook and connected with another lady I knew and she couldn’t do it but she recommended Melissa,” Poirier said as the couple practiced before the race. “We texted yesterday for the first time and spoke words together for the first time about 12 minutes ago.”

The new friendship didn’t work out so bad as the couple finished in fifth place, missing the podium by a couple of seconds.

Article credit: Bangor Daily News - http://bangordailynews.com
URL to article: http://ow.ly/ehSm5

69 Year Old Londonderry Woman Missing

Update Friday Evening, Mrs. Martineau has been found and reunited with her family.

LONDONDERRY, N.H. —
Londonderry police are asking for the public's help to locate a missing 69-year-old woman.

Barbara Martineau has been missing since Thursday at 8:30 a.m.

Martineau, who is 5 feet tall and 165 pounds, was last seen wearing a gray and plaid flannel top, black pants and a pink knit hat.

She was seen driving a blue 2005 Mercury Mariner with New Hampshire license plate No. 420135.

Police said Martineau is possibly in the Nashua or Manchester area.

Anyone with information is asked to call the nearest police department, or call Londonderry police at 432-1118.



Read more: http://ow.ly/efVky

Injured hiker rescued from Mount Washington in NH

LANCASTER, N.H. (AP) — Authorities say a 60-year-old hiker who injured his leg has been rescued from Mount Washington.

Yves Brault of Laval, Quebec, was hiking with his wife Tuesday afternoon when he slipped on a ledge and hurt his lower left leg.

Officials from the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department organized a team which hiked to the summit of Mount Washington and reached Brault, who was 1½ miles away. He was taken to a hospital for treatment Tuesday night.

Participating in the rescue were members of the Appalachian Mountain Club, Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue, New Hampshire Mount Washington Park and conservation officers from the Fish and Game Department.