In this 2018 file photo, two bull moose squabble over rights to a patch of mud where they are feeding at the Umbagog Wildlife Refuge in New Hampshire, near the Maine border. Moose in Maine are a month or more ahead of deer in preparing for the fall breeding season, which peaks in September. The first round of moose hunters are also preparing for their fall foray into the northern woods. Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press
Of course, there is a weather calendar based on the number of daylight hours or some such nonsense, but Maine residents mark the change of seasons using other, less official signs.
Spring begins two weeks after the last snowfall. Granted, sometimes the calendar goes back, but that’s Maine. Summer begins when the kids get out of school, which can vary depending on age and school. For those without kids, summer begins when the buses stop running. Fall begins with hunting season.
For flora and fauna, it actually starts earlier. As the days get shorter, herbaceous plants stop growing and produce seeds to secure the next generation. This often happens before the last hay cut of the season, another sign of the end of summer.
As I leave the Royal River by motorboat in early August for the coastal fishing grounds, I see flocks of sandpipers and plovers that have already begun their autumn migration south. Close behind them are waders such as snipes and rails and waterfowl such as blue-winged teal, most of which have disappeared before the waterfowl season begins.
Although bears have thick fur, they have already started to put on winter fat, first from ripe berries and later from beechnuts and other hard fattening agents. The baiting season begins in late July, so it is definitely still summer. A month later, the hunting season begins. Sometimes it seems a little strange to be sitting in lush, green forests, chasing away mosquitoes and wiping the sweat from your brow while waiting for the forest spirit, but it is autumn.
Deer antlers, the fastest-growing tissue in the animal kingdom, stop their annual production. The blood supply to their velvety covering is cut off and the outer layer is shed, revealing a crown of hard bone. This can happen in late August or early September. They also change their diet to more calorie-rich foods; first soft mast such as apples, then acorns and beechnuts. In the meantime, they prepare for the rut.
Food supplies become a priority as residents fatten up for the coming winter, which begins around the time the first plowable snows fall. Meanwhile, migratory birds fuel up for their journey south, whether they’re teals heading to Argentina or Canada geese heading to coastal waters.
While we’re still wearing shorts and mowing the lawn, the elk are a month or more ahead of the deer in preparing for the fall mating season, which peaks in September. The first round of elk hunters are also preparing for their fall foray into the northern woods.
For the pets, it’s just another transition, a time to put away the lawnmower and break out the leaf blower, play a few more rounds of golf, and make sure you have a snow plow driver. For hunters, it’s a glorious time of year. The season we’ve been waiting for is upon us. It’s time to lay bear bait, practice archery, fine-tune elk calls, and repair decoy lines.
Bob Humphrey is a freelance writer and registered Maine travel guide living in Pownal. You can reach him at: [email protected]
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