Freezing Cold

It got down to 21 last night. I don't know if that is a record for May but it is the coldest I remember. The hummingbird feeders were actually frozen solid this morning. The hummingbirds have been slow arriving this year nearly a week behind. Could it be they knew about this cold weather and opted to wait? I hope that is the case. We have seen very few of them so far. One female showed up yesterday and only a couple males are here far behind our usual. We should know by the end of the month if something more sinister has happened to the birds this year. All we can do is wait.
Another bird that seems to have an amazing sense of when to show its face is the Turkey. They are everywhere until the hunters show up then they disappear. They even seem to know what time of day the hunters can't hunt. I saw two nice gobblers yesterday after twelve and often see them in the afternoon. Maybe they have watches.
The strange Spring continues with the early temperatures of 80's and now it seems we are back to winter. Well, got to put another log on the fire...the dogs are cold. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Bad Bear

Last year, with the help of Stanley Dudkin's welding we built a couple of 55 gallon drums to keep corn in and gradually disperse it when needed. They worked great last fall and it kept the mice and chipmunks from eating half of it when it was stored in the neighbors garage.
However this Spring the bears decided the corn was not coming out fast enough. First one broke the back of the wooden feeder. Then he came back and pulled one of the drums out and I assumed rolled it over and over trying to get the corn out of it. I think this worked well for him until he rolled it into the pond and sunk it about four foot deep 100 feet from the feeder.
Unable to get the other drum out he just pushed the whole feeder over.
I was driving by the other day when I first noticed the feeder was tipped over. Upon closer inspection I was surprised to find one of the drums missing. It took me a while to locate it and I was not happy to find it submerged in the pond and full of water.
The water temperature is barely above freezing and even with the waders on your hands go numb in a few minutes messing with the cable and bolts holding the lid on.
I was able to use a blocked four-wheeler(not wanting to pull myself into the pond) and hook
barrel. As soon as it started to rise above the water it let go and I had to make another trip into the icy water. This time I managed to unbolt the lid which was on the lower side of the barrel. This allowed the water out as I pulled the barrel up onto the bank. I was able to do this by hand from the pond with Lee grabbing it as it got to the edge of the bank.
Once we retrieved the barrel from the pond we had to upright the feeder. Using the blocked four-wheeler I again ran the winch slowly until the feeder was standing. This went without a hitch.
Lastly, I pried the other barrel out of the feeder.
You can tell from the last couple pictures the bear tried hard to get it free of the feeder. In fact, he tried so hard he bent the metal rod coming out of it and didn't leave an inch of it without a muddy bear print.
We have decided there is no way to keep the bear from repeating the process without more work, concrete, and steel than it is worth. So the barrels will stay inside the garage and be used to keep the mice and chipmunks out of the corn. If one of them throws the drum into the pond it is time to get a bigger gun.
So much for a day at the office in Leetonia. Mountain girl, Paula, drying off, warming up, and
logging out.

Hummer time

Lee has pulled out all her hummingbird feeders to prepare for the hummingbird season. They using show up May 1st, but she has seen them as early as the 27th of April.
Lee starts with a couple of feeders partially filled for the early male arrivals. By the end of May all the feeders will be up and full and she will be going through that pitcher everyday sometimes feeding as much as a gallon of syrup a day.
Males come first and stake out the territory. The females will come a couple weeks later. The sound of them zooming past our heads like bottle rockets lets us know winter is definitely behind us.
Many of the camps have trouble with the bears stealing their feeders. I think the sound of dogs inside the cabin keeps that problem away from us. The bears are out catching up on eating. The bears love to get into any bird seed or garbage they can find. It seems when they find a good source of food they will often mark an area by scratching on a tree, post, or cabin. This doesn't make cabin owners too happy. I solved the problem at one camp by putting up electric fence on a corner the bear liked to destroy. Not feeding the bears or birds really cuts back on this activity. I will let you know when we spot the first hummingbird as two feeders are going up today.

Gas wells ignite hopes and fears

The biggest news in this area since I was born is the emerging gas well business. As you can see from a sign posted in a yard in Wellsboro the "Fracking" which is a method of pumping water and chemicals into shale to get the gas out has been met with some opposition.
The down side of gas exploration is immediately obvious. Constant truck traffic 24/7 destroying roads, noisy drilling and a complete disruption of the recreational seclusion this area has enjoyed.
The upside, "money". Money for people drilling and landowners lucky enough to have a lease and drilling supplying them with the kind of money never seen in these hills.


I don't blame anyone for taking the money. It is hard making a living here. People work twice as hard for half as much and most live below the poverty line. Seeing the sky glowing at night from the gas wells gives me an eiry apocalyptic feeling. Meeting truck after dusty truck on the roads and seeing our roads posted with signs like in the third picture...makes it seem like an industrial zone.

The signs say: No refueling zone, Keep moving no parking, waterbody and wetland boundry. When they first popped up we all wondered who they were for. Could we not stop? Or need to know where the water is? I am not sure if the gas company puts these up or the DEP, but hopefully it will help protect some of the area from spills in bad places.

Just when you think you know how to get somewhere you will likely be met with the last sign. Road Closed. Here a road closed can mean a 20 mile detour so it is not a welcome sign. I have to say..I am bad and ignore the signs until someone tells me in person otherwise. So far, that has not happened. I think they forget to take the signs down when they are done with whatever they think the road needs to be closed for.
This is just the beginning as the State has started to lease some forest. Nothing near us yet, but it is coming. If the sign changes to forest closed...the mountain girl will not be a happy girl.
Well, a small sample of what your camp will be like this year. Grin and bear it. Lets hope when it is over the area has benefited more then it has been sucked dry.
Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Fran Wiegley(Ottman) memorial continued

Thanks to Fred, Fran's nephew for sending me this picture. Fran is standing next to her sister, Norma and is the last one in the row to the right.
Fran was quite proud of getting this deer and had fond memories of the hunt.
I know she would love being remembered in this way in the prime of life...enjoying the outdoors of Leetonia.
You would hardly recognize the area from this picture as heavy logging had eliminated most of the trees. Today the area is heavily forested. I think the deer hanging rack used here is still at the Herre camp. It is in a different spot but looks the same. Thanks again to Fred for sending me this remembrance of Fran.

Spring comes to Leetonia

One of the first trees to bloom in the forest is the Fire Cherry. As you can see the other trees are just beginning to open buds.
In a couple of weeks much will change in the woods. Now you can see across the mountains through the trees. As the leaves come out the sun will disappear and the woods will once again be cloaked in its summer gear.
Spring Trout season starts Saturday and the following week will be gobbler season. I have seen many a gobbler out with hens since we have had such warm weather. It is amazing how many turkeys you will see right up to the day before hunting season. Then mysteriously they all disappear.
Is it the first shot in the air or some sort of Turkey psychic ability, I will never know.
I am back from working in California for a month as work here dried up for me during this winter. I have a few projects to do then some temporary work for the census. Hopefully, things will loosen up this year and people will do more than just repairs.

I haven't adjusted to the time change yet. It takes me a few weeks to make up 3 hours. But I am enjoying being on firm ground. We had multiple earthquakes. All stemming from a 7.2 a hundred miles away from San Diego. I was hanging ceramic tile at the time of the first hit and I wasn't sure it was staying up. I made a beeline off the porch and away from the building. The worst part is it doesn't stop for some time. There were four more after shocks within an hour and at least one a day for 5 days until I left.
I don't like earthquakes. I would much rather deal with snow storms, wind storms, tornadoes, you can get away from them. But there is no escaping an earthquake. I am glad to be back in Leetonia away from the hoards of people and the moving ground.
I feel like I missed much of winter and I am trying to catch up with the fact it is Spring. I am sure the birds and the bugs will remind me. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

Fran Wiegley(Ottman) memorial

This year brings an end to another Leetonia favorite of mine, Fran Wiegley. She passed on the end of March and even though in her late 80's watched the blog faithfully. If I went as long as I have this year without a post, I would surely be admonished and/or worried about by Fran.

Although, I never met her in person, the common love of Leetonia made for sad news of her passing. I have been looking for the picture she sent of me in her hunting outfit and have been unable to find it. But if I do it will definitely be posted.
This picture is of her mother in Leetonia, August of 1934 bottle feeding a bear. She was the daughter of Norman and Beatrice Ottman who moved to Leetonia after the crash in 29'. My understanding was that they lived in the "Square Camp", which I believe to be the older Cassel place which is Red. Her dad was able to live rent free and she believes he feed them mostly with free deer meat. Later on he worked at the CCC camp in a manager position.
Another soul is walking the streets and woods of Leetonia. I'm sure I will see her soon. Mountain girl, Paula, logging off.

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