The Outside Story

The sociable gray squirrel

By Susan Shea On winter mornings when I look out my window, I often see a gray squirrel clinging upside down to the post supporting my bird feeder, with his front paws in the tray, munching sunflower seeds. Sometimes, a […]

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The Outside Story

Ice capades

By Declan McCabe Come mid-January, when I’m acclimatized to Vermont’s winter, I enjoy an occasional stroll on the icy surface of Lake Champlain. I favor bays sheltered from the brunt of winter winds where the ice has had ample time […]

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The Outside Story

Sparkly snow

By Meghan McCarthy McPhaul The other day I was driving through New Hampshire’s Crawford Notch, where my eyes are usually drawn to the tall mountains and long, cascading waterfalls on either side of the road. But on this day my […]

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The Outside Story

Southern pine beetles march north

By Joe Rankin As if the emerald ash borer’s incursion into northern New England wasn’t enough, now there’s another potentially devastating forest pest marching this way: the southern pine beetle. Dendroctonus frontalis – the first name means “tree murderer,” we […]

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The Outside Story

Web decorations

By Rachel Marie Sargent When I was little and tagging along when my dad tended his vegetables, I would sometimes find large black and yellow garden spiders. They were beautiful, and I noticed they had a curious trait: they often […]

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The Outside Story

Porcupine salt cravings

By Susan Shea When I was growing up, my family rented a vacation home on a mountain in southern Vermont. One night we were awakened by our dogs barking. Soon we heard a persistent gnawing on the outside of the […]

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