Easter Bunny barely escapes death!

It is dangerous being an Easter Bunny in Leetonia. The poor Bunny barely escaped death this morning delivering peeps to the Mountain girls.

A rattlesnake attempting to attack the Easter Bunny was thwarted when the Easter Bunny threw a peep into his mouth and as the rattlesnake gummed his way through the peep the Easter Bunny was saved.

Thank goodness cause I would have missed all the great stuff the Easter Bunny brought us this morning.

Looks like a chilly start to the day at 29 degrees this morning but the sun is warming it up fast and it looks to be another nice day on the mountain. Have a great Leetonia Easter Day. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Fire Warnings and Fire

Last Monday a forest fire was reported in the Slider Run area. I drove up the road about three miles from Leetonia, but couldn't see anything. We did notice helicopters dropping water that day. Currently, have no reports of the scope of this fire.

We are under a Red Flag Fire Warning A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW... OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS... LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY... AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL CREATE EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL.

This will last through Saturday with gusting winds to 25 mph potential for damage is great. It is best not to have any fires until we get some rain and the new growth gets going. With a lot of people up for the Easter weekend we are holding our breath that everyone will be responsible. We don't want a rerun of the fire we had a few years ago.

Sounds of Spring and Temperatures of Summer

I can't believe what I heard outside this evening....Peepers. The small frog that makes music to sleep by during the warm Spring and Summer months. I can't remember hearing them much before May. I am not sure if anyone else remembers hearing them this soon.

The temperatures have been as high as 80 during the day and staying above freezing at night has taken all the ice and snow off the mountain. The animals are singing sounds of Spring and to the woe of many turkey hunters the Turkeys are mating very early. I expect some even going to nest soon. The Turkey Vultures have returned along with the robins, blue Jays and geese. The porcupines are moving around a lot as well. So keeping an eye on my quill collector dog Leo is now a must.

While working down at Cedar Run near the Creek I saw several people enjoying the summer temperatures canoeing down the creek. I wanted stopped my work to join in the fun. If you want to hear one click here Mountain girl Paula logging out and enjoying the warm weather.

Trucks and road conditions

With the weather getting warmer the amount of water truck traffic seems to be increasing on Pigeon Hill and Button Hollow Rd. You can see from the first picture how many trucks are filling up with water to be hauled as far away as Mansfield.
The second picture shows me following the trucks down Button Hollow Road a slow process. I often see as many as six trucks on the one mile stretch. The traffic makes me fell like I live in an industrial zone, instead of being on a quiet country road.
The third picture is a logging truck heading up Leetonia Rd. This is the same guy I had to back up a mile and a half for when the road was snow covered and narrow. He was headed toward me at that time and loaded with logs. I can tell you it isn't fun backing up a narrow, icy, snow covered road a mile and a half.
The roads are for the most part around 90% melted even on roads not plowed. However, the 10% still ice covered can be tricky when the temperature drops below freezing. So my warning of having chains with you if you are going off the plowed roads still holds.
I still find it hard to believe it is March and I still have firewood on
my front porch. Looks like I will be in good shape for next year as I doubt I will touch too much wood on back porch to get through to summer.
Lee Anne came home yesterday from helping her sister who has a son with leukemia. Unfortunately, the prognosis for him is not good and it was hard for her to leave. It is hard to see a boy who is only 18 deal with his own mortality. On the selfish side, I am glad to have her back it has been a long lonely winter for myself and the dogs. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Weather still strange

We got 2-5 inches of wet snow in the middle to upper part of the mountains yesterday, unfortunately it was followed with rain and freezing temperatures. The North side of mountain froze up pretty good. On the way back from town today we got a snow squall that was absolutely beautiful as you came into the forest; something you would never hear me say if we had been having real snow this winter.

As I was enjoying the view I saw a logging truck coming out of the woods loaded towards me. Now it is not fun. The road wasn't plowed wide enough for both of us so being the smaller one I started to back up looking for somewhere to get around. I got out once to check the ditch full of snow to find it was deeper than it looked so I back up down the narrow icy road for a mile and a half. Finally, I found a wide spot and let him around. Backing up in white snow it is very hard to see the edges of the road so it is a bit nerve racking.

However, it wasn't nearly as nerve racking as the North side of the mountain had become during the day. It was very icy, half way up I started slipping and my heart started pumping as I slowed down to a crawl. I wasn't sure I would have enough speed to make it up the 2 mile grade. But I made it and once I cleared the top covered in snowmobile tracks. I started down the other side, which is mostly clear. All I can say is I am glad to be home and don't plan on leaving again until it is cindered. Mountain girl, Paula, calming her nerves in front of a warm fire.

Unseasonable Weather continues

I took a walk up on the mountain today it was 45 degrees as I walked. The birds were chirping in the woods like it was Spring. Even the Chihuahua who doesn't care for winter is happy this year. There is still some snow on North sides of mountains and places on the road, which are icy, so having a set of chains with you is still a good idea.

I saw about a dozen deer together near my pond, a common thing in February usually because of deep snow. This has not been the case this year so I wondered if they would still herd up in groups. I seem to have my answer, yes. In reading it says deer prefer the evergreen browse in the forest during winter months and may congregate here for that reason. I always thought it was so as a group they could beat through the snow easier to find food. If you all know of any reasons deer herd up let me know. I think they will be coming through this winter in good shape.

As for me I am enjoying this weather, not sure it isn't spoiling me for an real winters to come. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

Outta the Way: Bigfoot in Pennsylvania

One of my followers posted this and I thought it was interesting. They say that sightings have been made back in the 1870's. I know of such a one as it was written about in Tannen Bark and Sawdust written about the Leetonia sawmill in its haydays.

Turned out people saw prints of this creature in the snow and movements of it in the woods. In fact, many a brave man ran screaming out of the woods. This brought a french trapper to Leetonia to trap the beast, which he was going to sell to the circus.

He did indeed trap the beast out of the Fahneystock area. It appeared to have been living in a cave. He brought it to Leetonia in a cage and the local kids poked at it with sticks. It growled at them. It would eat only raw meat.

However, it was determined this "Bigfoot", was indeed a man. A mentally disabled man, who on his own had little to wear and had been able to survive by catching and eating local animals and fish. His feet had been frostbite from lack of proper clothing so he left an abnormal footprint, which had started the hunt.

The State intervened and would not let the trapper sell a human, instead they placed him in an asylum where he died from not eating. He would only eat raw food and refused all the cooked food until he died.

It was common during this period of time for the mentally challenged to be abandoned or even chained up by their relatives. Another "hairy ape" was seen in Morris during the same period. He was chained by his relatives but would get loose now and then and scare people. I am not saying "Bigfoot" is impossible. But, make sure you aren't looking at a hairy man as found by people in the past.

Here is latest video news broadcast about one in Pennsylvania: Video

Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.