Taming Vermont's feline fatale
Mark Freeman has a soft spot for cats. And he prefers them oversized and mean. Every weekday morning, while the rest of us coast along in civilization, this burly but mild-mannered grad student traps, tranquilizes and collars specimens of the wild bobcat - a belligerent uncle of the household tabby. The project isn't just about feline fancy, though: Bobcat behavior reflects dramatic changes in Vermont's ecological and cultural landscapes.
When the going gets ruff, it's time for mutt supplements
In the weeks since tainted pet food has killed at least 16 animals and sickened 12,000 others nationwide, pet owners have become increasingly vigilant about what they feed Fido. In fact, dinner in the doggy bowl is beginning to resemble the one on the family table. But since 2004, well before this latest food scare, the Essex Junction-based
In the saddle with the Vermont Mounted Response Unit
The words "1000-pound police officer" conjure an image of the lawful alter-ego of Fat Bastard, the metric-ton-weighing Scottish villain in Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me. It's doubtful that such a character could run 30 miles per hour, smell the anxiety of a drug dealer, or prompt nearby children to pet his nose.
But five such 1000-pound officers endowed with those capabilities reside in Monkton.
Members of Vermont Fancy Felines are a breed apart
It's new-mom central in a bedroom of Mary Phinney's Milton home. Three-year-old Harriet gave birth to two daughters six days ago. Eyes still closed, they cheep plaintively from their bed in a multilevel cage designed to protect them from drafts. Cissy is due in just two or three days. Her grandfather reclines next door in the living room, and Nonie, her mom, perches in the kitchen where she can greet visitors with a friendly head butt.
A country farrier keeps horses on the right track
Six-year-old Baby Tooey is docile as a lamb when Samuel "Randy" Snipes, Jr., lifts her foot, cradles it between his chaps and nails a horseshoe to her front hoof. It's rare for a horse that's never been shoed to behave this well around a farrier, or horseshoe blacksmith, which is what Snipes is. But the part-Belgian, part-Morgan draft horse lets Snipes carve deep into the soles of her feet with nary a whinny, fidget or snort of complaint.
For Vermont's pampered pets, good grooming is just the start
Dana Begins is a bus driver. Each weekday morning and afternoon, he guides his purple school bus around Chittenden County, picking up and dropping off his charges. He's not employed by a school district or a transportation company; Begins works for Gulliver's Doggie Daycare in Williston. His passengers are pooches.
Teaching the family hound to tow the line
Nicky isn't a born couch potato, despite growing evidence to the contrary - that is, dog hair - accumulating on my sofa. Part Karelian bear dog, he descends from a long line of fierce big-game hunters who worked the frigid climes of northern Europe and western Russia. Tall, muscular and energetic, Karelians earned a reputation for fearlessly taking on lynx, wolves, moose and bears.
It's a dwarf hamster - what's not to love?
Not all animals make good pets. Just ask any disappointed 10-year-old who thought that birthday turtle would be his new best friend. Some critters just aren't hardwired for human interaction, let alone a game of fetch. But my dwarf hamster and I get on just fine. And she doesn't slobber or shove her nose in my crotch.
To be honest, I wasn't in the market for any kind of varmint.
