by Roland D. Hallee Maine’s famous great black hawk was back in the news last week when it was announced that the raptor, which succumbed to its wounds last year, was going on display at the Maine State Museum, in Augusta, following its preparation by taxidermist, Tom Berube, of Poland. The mount of the rarely […]
by Roland D. Hallee Huhhhh! It’s time again to bundle up and make my trek through the snow fields of center Vassalboro in search of my old friend, Woodrow Charles. As folklore goes, Woody is a weather prognosticating groundhog. With Groundhog Day coming on February 2, I always visit him a little early to give […]
by Roland D. Hallee I received this press release from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention recently. It has some interesting information that I thought I would share with you. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) received a record number of Lyme disease case reports from health providers in 2019, […]
by Roland D. Hallee The bush fires in Australia have been in the news lately, and the affects of those blazes on the wildlife there have been devastating. The blazes, which have been burning across Australia for months, have razed homes and wiped out entire towns. Across Australia, nearly 18 million acres of land have […]
by Roland D. Hallee On our way home to Waterville from Augusta last Sunday, my wife and I observed a raccoon walking along the roadside in Winslow. My first thought: “A raccoon out during the day is not normal, and could mean it is rabid.” While it is true that a rabid raccoon will exhibit […]
by Roland D. Hallee It has now become personal. Over the past 25 years, or so, I have written two columns on the opossum. Mainly because one had been sighted in Winslow, and I have seen a few dead alongside of the highway as a result of collisions with automobiles. My first encounter with an […]
by Roland D. Hallee Roland has taken an early vacation. This is reprinted from the December 24, 2015, issue. When 10-year-old Gayla Peevey sang her 1953 Christmas song, I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, did she really know what she was wishing for? When the song was released nationally, it shot to the top of […]
by Roland D. Hallee Over the last several months, I have received many inquiries about what appears to be a shortage of gray squirrels in central Maine. Time and time again I have received emails asking what has happened. Some reported not seeing any squirrels following a year – 2018 – when there was an […]
Symbolize family life and good family relation by Roland D. Hallee It seems this time of year people see more northern cardinals than any other time of the year. I know my wife and I see them year round at our home, visiting our feeders on a regular basis. In picture postcards and greeting cards, […]
by Roland D. Hallee The wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is an upland ground bird native to North America. Although native to North America, the turkey probably got its name from the domesticated variety being imported to Britain in ships coming from the Levant via Spain. The British at the time therefore associated the wild turkey […]