Pete the Moose Faces Uncertain Future in Vermont – ABC News.  Check it out!

Pete hit it big time the other night.  He was on national news last Tuesday.  It was taped for ABC's  Nightly News more than a month ago, when the trees were still in color.  The battle continues but time is growing short for Pete.  there is an awful lot that ABC didn't say.  For instance,

• There has never been a case of Chronic Wasting Disease in Vermont.

• The advantage to having Pete on the preserve is that the elk that are taken by hunters and as a source of elk meat, are tested for CWD.  Wild deer, shot by hunters this time of year, are not tested.  If CWD was present here, it would be known very quickly.
• The preserve is hardly someone's backyard.  700 acres is a large space.  Go see if you can find a deer or a moose in a 700 acre woodland.  Good luck. 
• There are more than 200 hundred deer and moose living inside the preserve.  Most were born there.  The area was fenced years ago.  No effort was made to remove the native deer and moose before the fence was put up.  It wasn't so much an issue with the state back then.   It is now.  All of these animals are scheduled to be shot in January unless some rational agreement is reached.
• You can help.  Call the governor's office.  Let him know what you think.  Or write to him, or the fish and wildlife.  The link is here. 

• Vermont cares very much about its image.  We depend on tourist dollars and our Made in Vermont trademark. 

(Pete's picture is from an album on his Facebook page.  Good shot, huh?)

  sort of..

When I weighed the acorns the day I picked them up, I weighed only 2 oz. of them. There were seven.  Multiplying that by 8 times gave me 56 acorns.  They were full of moisture from the ground and the biggest I’d ever seen.  When I went back on Sunday afternoon to gather enough of them to make up a pound, many had split.  Although there were still a lot of them, there weren’t as many as a few days before.  I’m thinking fat squirrels, happy deer, cheerful chipmunks.  The point is, that today, when I actually weighed out a pound, without choosing which acorns should or shouldn’t be included, the count came to 59.  Smaller, dryer, whatever.  No two alike.. Mother Nature, after all.  There you have it.  Nobody guessed 59 acorns.  The numbers ranged from, I think 10 (holy smokes, acorns that size would be on the government’s list of dangerous weapons, especially if they were falling 60-100 feet from the sky), to 250.  I assume that acorns are different in other parts of the country.  Steph guessed 57.  Good job!  Great guess.  If you email me your address, I’ll send along your prize!  I’ll also email you privately so you have my address. 

Those acorns won’t go to waste.  After adorning my table as a centerpiece, they will be sent along outdoors to those who will enjoy them the most.  They sure look tasty to me.