Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[MustangMike]

My friend Harold and I spent a few days putting the roof and a stove pipe on the new cabin. A lot of work, but fairly uneventful until Wed night.

We heard a Porky chewing on some plywood in my trailer at 1:30 in the morning, and dispatched him. There was another one a few hours later, but it scampered into the darkness before we could dispatch him. So when we heard chewing again at 4 in the morning, we came out ready, but it was not a porky, it was a Bear!!! Luckily, it turned and went off, but kept coming back. Finally, we stood (in the dark) in the doorway of the cabin with no door and waited for him to return. He slowly approached, but as soon as he reached Harold's cooler, he bit the corner of it and flung it through the air. He was about 30 feet from us.

We yelled, and I charged out after him. Harold laughed like crazy, and said he could make a lot of money if he had the video of me chasing a Bear down the driveway wearing only my boots and my underwear! But the chasing worked, he did not come back, and I actually got about an hour more of sleep after that!

Sorry, no pics of the Bear, but he was a good looking fella. We were more concerned with clinging to our lights and our guns.

Enjoy the pics. That is Harold on the Roof, and the Porky that will eat my cabin no more!

 

[MustangMike]

What kind of roof did you put on the cabin?

I could not afford metal with the money I spent on the well this year, so we put snow/ice guard under it and the GAF Ultra HD shingles, they should last a while.

 

[svk]

I'm sorry but I'm laughing pretty darn hard right now after that story.

 

[Philbert]

Nuce looking cabin.

Philbert

 

[nomad_archer]

Looks good. I usually only put snow and ice on the first row and regular felt after that. I like those architectural shingles, they go up quick and easy compared to 3 tab. But I am not a pro. Your cabin is really starting to come together. It looks like a piece of heaven.

 

[benp]

My friend Harold and I spent a few days putting the roof and a stove pipe on the new cabin. A lot of work, but fairly uneventful until Wed night.

We heard a Porky chewing on some plywood in my trailer at 1:30 in the morning, and dispatched him. There was another one a few hours later, but it scampered into the darkness before we could dispatch him. So when we heard chewing again at 4 in the morning, we came out ready, but it was not a porky, it was a Bear!!! Luckily, it turned and went off, but kept coming back. Finally, we stood (in the dark) in the doorway of the cabin with no door and waited for him to return. He slowly approached, but as soon as he reached Harold's cooler, he bit the corner of it and flung it through the air. He was about 30 feet from us.

We yelled, and I charged out after him. Harold laughed like crazy, and said he could make a lot of money if he had the video of me chasing a Bear down the driveway wearing only my boots and my underwear! But the chasing worked, he did not come back, and I actually got about an hour more of sleep after that!

Sorry, no pics of the Bear, but he was a good looking fella. We were more concerned with clinging to our lights and our guns.

Enjoy the pics. That is Harold on the Roof, and the Porky that will eat my cabin no more!

Your cabin is bigger than my Gardener's hovel.

Awesome!!!!

 

[MustangMike]

Your cabin is bigger than my Gardener's hovel.

Awesome!!!!

Two floors, both rooms 20' x 24' w/o any posts in the middle. The Posts & Beams (6.5" x 6.5") were cut by chainsaw with the Beam Machine from Ash Trees that had blown down on my property. Joints are connected (in addition to 1" inlay) with 4" angle iron and 1/2" bolts. It ain't goin no where!

 

[bpalmer]

11 loads today of red and white oak. Great tree service connection. Here are a few of the loads

 

[mainewoods]

A very happy belated B-DAY to you wudpirate!! Sorry I missed itl

 

[mainewoods]

The cabin is coming along nicely, Mike. Your furry woodland friends sure seem to appreciate their new winter den!! LOL

 

[hardpan]

One question Mike. Since your new cabin will be mostly unoccupied, how do you protect the wood and maybe other materials from the porkies? Steel siding and trim probably but what about decks, railing and other exterior enhancements? I have never seen a porcupine in the wild although I did travel the entire length of your beautiful state last week. I was hoping to come across a road kill and "borrow" a few quills for conversation pieces. LOL. OK two questions, do the bears tear up property when nobody is around? I once tent camped in the Smokeys when I was a kid and bears came through the campsite every night. One of them took a bite out of a Styrofoam cooler like you described.

 

[zogger]

I could not afford metal with the money I spent of the well this year, so we put snow/ice guard under it and the GAF Ultra HD shingles, they should last a while.

Doing good on the cabin! Night time visitors story is funny!

 

[MustangMike]

Bears will usually only do damage to your place if they smell food inside.

The cement board at the bottom of the new cabin, steel doors, and the steel at the bottom of the old cabin generally keep the porkies at bay, but sometimes they climb up a door frame or a corner. There are numerous patches on the old cabin, and one time they got inside, what a mess! They will eat the roof plywood from the inside till it is paper thin. They even ate some treated wood.

I may add some more cement board in strategic locations, like around the door.

Hey, if you want a few quills from this one, let me know, I'll try to get some if he is still there when we go back up. About the only animal that will eat a porky is a fisher, and they are rare. They know how to flip them over and get to the underbelly. The quills are barbed, you don't want to get stuck by one, and if your dog gets into one, it is a disaster.

Hope you took in some good sights going across the upper part of the State.

Here is a pic of the inside of the old cabin, and the wood stove that keeps us warm & toasty. I pre-fabed it in my driveway, and set it up with my brother and my nephew in one weekend back in 1991. There are no permanent footings, or floor. The old tent platform acts as a floor in the back half of it.

 

[svk]

And for whatever reason, any dog with even the smallest amount of shepherd blood can't keep themselves from attacking porkies. Our shepherd mix tangled with one and we had to have the vet remove broken quills from her snout. He told us 85% of the dogs that come in after porky encounters are some kind of shepherd.

I'm amazed how much trouble you have with them. I only see one every few years. Around here they are shot on site by most people because they are absolute murder on small pine trees.

 

[svk]

Do this next time.

 

[MustangMike]

Everyone up there shoots them on sight, but the supply never seems to run out. They make paths like trenches in the snow. You will swear there is a big herd of them, and likely there is.

They like Maple trees also, and will sometimes girdle a nice tree. Ditto Hemlock. I've seen the damage they do, eating skidder tires, aluminum turn buckles, plywood, treated wood, radiator hoses & break lines.

They seem to be incompatible with civilization.

 

[svk]

Everyone up there shoots them on sight, but the supply never seems to run out. They make paths like trenches in the snow. You will swear there is a big herd of them, and likely there is.

They like Maple trees also, and will sometimes girdle a nice tree. Ditto Hemlock. I've seen the damage they do, eating skidder tires, aluminum turn buckles, plywood, treated wood, radiator hoses & break lines.

They seem to be incompatible with civilization.

I remember you mentioning that before. Do they prefer the fluid filled tires to increase their salt intake?

 

[MustangMike]

Don't know the answer to that, but the guy with the skidder flat tire was pissed, they went right between the chains. They had previously eaten his wheelbarrow tire, and the tires on his deer cart, so I don't think they are too picky.

But if you want to bait them, seems like there is nothing better than fresh plywood. They sometimes leave the old stuff alone. I'm told it is the glue they are after.

 

[zogger]

Bears will usually only do damage to your place if they smell food inside.

The cement board at the bottom of the new cabin, steel doors, and the steel at the bottom of the old cabin generally keep the porkies at bay, but sometimes they climb up a door frame or a corner. There are numerous patches on the old cabin, and one time they got inside, what a mess! They will eat the roof plywood from the inside till it is paper thin. They even ate some treated wood.

I may add some more cement board in strategic locations, like around the door.

Hey, if you want a few quills from this one, let me know, I'll try to get some if he is still there when we go back up. About the only animal that will eat a porky is a fisher, and they are rare. They know how to flip them over and get to the underbelly. The quills are barbed, you don't want to get stuck by one, and if your dog gets into one, it is a disaster.

Hope you took in some good sights going across the upper part of the State.

Here is a pic of the inside of the old cabin, and the wood stove that keeps us warm & toasty. I pre-fabed it in my driveway, and set it up with my brother and my nephew in one weekend back in 1991. There are no permanent footings, or floor. The old tent platform acts as a floor in the back half of it.

Now, I don't know if it would work, but worth a bag of cattle mineral salt feed to try out. Dump some all over any stumps you have to get rid of, maybe they will chow down on the stumps instead of your cabin. Got the idea from the old wives tale of whizzing on the stumps to get porkys to eat them. Around here, I have never seen one, although two years ago we started seeing armadilloes.

 

[MustangMike]

Good idea, except it will likely just bring more of them in, and I'll get busted for baiting the deer, cause they like it too!