Vt. Maple Products

Hello everyone, hope your having a great summer. I sometimes forget that people that visit Vermont don’t really know much about the wildlife we have here. Some people think we have mountain lions, wolfs and grizzly bears, which is not the case. So I thought I would break down just what type of wildlife Vermont does have.

Lets start with the reptiles. Yes we do have snakes, but often you will never see them. The most common by far are the garter snakes. These are small and green and do not hurt anyone. We do have one or two snakes that are poisonous, but you will hardy ever see them. In fact with all the time I have spent in the woods I’ve never come across them.

We have frogs, toads, salamanders and several types of turtles. We do have snapping turtles, so be careful about reaching into any holes along a riverbank or pond. A few other small reptiles and that’s about it for Vermont reptiles. You will just about never see them.

Now for small Vermont wildlife animals. We have LOTS of rabbits! Seems like everywhere you look you can find a bunny peeking out from the bush. We also have red squirrels, big gray squirrels and chipmunks. Squirrels are a sugar maple maker enemy, as they chew holes into the plastic tubing we use to gather the maple sap for making that pure Vermont maple syrup.

Let’s see, we also have porcupines, weasels (the animal kind, but we have lots of the human kind too), raccoons, skunks, fishers, mink, muskrats, beavers, red fox, coyotes and maybe a few more I forgot. None of them bother humans, except for maybe scavenging in your garbage cans at night.

We do get rabies around here, so if you ever get approached by a wild animal, get away from it. They are afraid of humans, so by coming up to you they most likely are sick or have rabies. Raccoons, skunks, fox and coyotes are the ones that seem to get rabies most often.

Now on to the big Vermont animals and wildlife. We have bobcats, whitetail deer, moose, black bears and that’s about it. Old mountain men don’t count! The big game hardly ever bother you. Black bears are very scared of humans and will run if they see you. Moose do the same, unless they are in the mating season.

At that time they can be very short tempered, so if you see one in the woods stay still and wait for it to go away. Moose are VERY large, and hitting one with your car will destroy it. I’m talking about your car, not the moose. Whitetail deer are also very common to see crossing roads, so keep a lookout for them. They can do a lot of damage to your car too.

Now for what Vermont does NOT have for wildlife. We DO NOT have elk, grizzly bears, polar bears, mountain lions, antelope, mule deer, wolfs, badgers, rattlesnakes, wild boars, mountain goats and a lot more that you can find out west.

Hunting in Vermont is very popular, and the wildlife we have is perfect for going out for a day of hunting without worrying about some animal stalking you instead! I will talk about all the animals in detail in other post. So that’s about what you can expect for Vermont wildlife animals.

Come up with your camera or your hunting rifle and enjoy Vermont’s abundant wildlife animals. You never have to go far to see them, as there are woods all around you. Don’t forget before you go back (and you knew this was coming) to pick up a gallon or two of that great pure Vermont maple syrup!!