About an hour from Pond Mountain Inn, Kay and I stumbled upon this incredible beaver pond on a well-traveled dirt road in Londonderry, Vermont. The terrain prevented us from taking a better photo; I had to reach well over my head to even get this shot! The pond depth was 6-8 feet deep and the engineering by the beavers just mesmerizing. What a great find!
Check out our Inspiring Day Trips & Unique Itineraries for more exciting places to visit!
The Porcupine is mostly active at night and nocturnal. It spends most of its time finding food, and resting in trees. They have a natural craving for salt and will gnaw on the dropped antlers of deer to obtain minerals. When they are born their quills are very soft for just an hour. It is believed that a porcupine can throw its quills when confronted, but that is not true, the quills release when coming in contact with another an animal.
We watched this little guy in the photo stroll from the bottom of the property up the mountain behind us… porcupines are very “house” destructive. Quick story.. we heard one gnawing under our house one night at 12:30AM!
Learn More about the Porcupine
Find Out More About Pond Mountain Inn Bed and Breakfast
Merck Forest Event – Owl Presentation and Hike. The evening begins with a presentation about the owls found in our region and then the group will hike out to find some of these magnificent raptors. Saturday, February 22 @ 4:00 – 6:00 pm ($5.00) Learn more Here
Merck Forest Farmland Center is a non profit educational organization located at Rupert, Vermont, only 30 minutes from Pond Mountain Inn. Their mission is to inspire and teach others about natural and working lands sustainability.
See more events and presentations Here
Include a visit to Merck Forest on your Dorset/Manchester Day Trip!
During our recent trip to Waitsfield for yak meat we discovered this beaver lodge standing nearly seven feet tall! But, that’s not the entire story… the most interesting part of our discovery was the shallow beaver-engineered pond – just look at the lower left corner of the photo. This large family of beavers constructed an entire ecosystem to live and raise their pups! We’re always stumbling upon something fascinating here in Vermont!
Down the road from Pond Mountain Inn, we spotted a group of wild turkeys while out for a chilly winter walk. Wild Turkeys in a group is called a flock , whereas a group of domesticated turkeys are known as a rafter or gang. The wild turkeys live and travel together primarily on foot, occasionally taking short flights to escape predators. Their long legs are strong enough to enable them to run 25 miles per hour. and they can fly at 30 to 35 miles per hour!
Learn More About Wild Turkeys from the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department
Learn More About Pond Mountain Inn Bed and Breakfast
The Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences located at Quechee, Vermont is extraordinary!
The VINS (Vermont Institute of Natural Science ) is a nonprofit environmental education, avian rehabilitation and research organization supported by members.
We spent a half day at their incredible 47 acre campus which is open year round, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM. It offers “state-of-the-art raptor enclosures, exhibit spaces, classrooms, and interpretive nature trails”, and a beautiful Forest Canopy Walk.
See what else Quechee has to offer on our Woodstock / Quechee • Day Trip: Itinerary
Pileated woodpeckers are the largest of the common woodpeckers found in most of North America. With a height of almost 20 inches and a 30 inch wingspan makes it easy to spot while hiking. A recent guest was looking for a nice hike that offered stunning views so we sent her to The Mount Equinox summit, only 35 minutes from Pond Mountain Inn!
While enjoying a delightful summer evening with one of our guests, we watched the Hummingbirds playing and feeding when one whizzed by and slammed directly into the picture window behind us! We instinctively leapt from our Adirondack chairs only to find this poor bird on the ground with no visible signs of life. John, one of our frequent guests, and a wonderful photographer picked up our tiny new friend and held it in his hand. John was eager to get his camera, but he had the bird, so I grabbed my phone and began taking pictures.
As I continued photographing, our friendly little bird gradually regained his composure, righted himself and kept us company for fifteen minutes. He was clearly enjoying himself and was in no hurry to leave, but it was time to delicately return him to the feeder. He stepped from John’s hand and perched himself comfortably and within a few moments he was quickly tormented by his buddies – they are very territorial and seek control of the feeder. He grabbed a quick drink and returned home….
This goes on from dawn to dusk and is always fascinating to watch. We look forward to their return to Pond Mountain Inn every May!
Pond Mountain Inn 