Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Mountain Lions
Officials are also on the fence as to whether there are mountain lions in
Maine, but reports and sightings are being made with increasing fre-
quency. Some towns in the Western Mountains now post warnings that
big cats may be in the area, but no one has brought in photographic or
physical proof of that.
Caribou
Another animal hunted to eradication a century ago in Maine was the
caribou. Efforts to reestablish these tundra dwellers to a plateau in
Baxter State Park in the 1970s failed.
Calls of the Wild
There are plenty of vocal creatures in the wilds of Maine that you may
never get a good look at but who will reveal themselves to attentive lis-
teners with their hoots and calls.
Coyotes
Coyotes communicate over great distances with their yelps and howls.
While these shy predators will take great pains to avoid humans, the in-
tensity of their calls often betrays a close approach.
While camped one winter on some high ground in the middle of a vast
frozen peat bog, our party was serenaded by coyotes all night long. Their
calls came from widely separated ridges surrounding the lowland. Each
call was repeated in succession across the valley. Despite calls that indi-
cated one group was only 50 yards or so behind out tents, we never caught
sight of the beast.
Birdsongs
Whip-poor-wills call from the edges of fields and woods at dusk. They
sound just like their name, although most call so fast it is like hearing it
on a high-speed tape.
From the deep woods the lilting call of the wood thrush fills the evening
air. In high places, even above treeline, the lonely call of the white-
throated sparrow can fill an ancient silence. In the forest and at feed-
ers the scolding “dee, dee, dee” of the chickadee can be heard year-
round.
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