The View from Heifer Hill

These essays have appeared in the Brattleboro Reformer on the first Saturday of the month for several years. Here you will find accounts of Fretful the Porcupine, the beavers, and other wild happenings, and these versions include pictures! Since they are listed with the most recent at the top of the list, stories that take place over months or years appear in reverse chronology. The essays that feature the beavers and other animals met while beaver-watching will also be found at the Beaver page, and in chronological order. The same is true for the stories of Fretful and Dandelion the porcupines.

May 2015, Porcupines at Play, a porcupine season finale . . .


February, 2015: Otter, Mink, and the slippery slope
In which otter and mink have a sledding party.

January, 2015:A Barrelful of Woe 
In which a fisher demonstrates its temperament in desperate situation.

November, 2014: The Call of the Wild
In which Dandelion sets up housekeeping in the wilderness.

October, 2014: My Friend Fretful

In which we say farewell to a memorable old porcupine.

 September, 2014 : A Dreadful Summer
In which Dandelion the Young and Fretful the Aged become acquainted.

July, 2014: King of the Porcupines
In which Fretful, the aged porcupine, is rediscovered.

June, 2014: A Dreadful Beginning

In which a baby porcupine is delivered twice in one day.

May, 2014: A Fretful Farewell

In which Fretful returns to his forest home after convalescence. 


April, 2014: A Fretful Ordeal
In which Fretful is defeated by a rival.


March, 2014: Flotation Devices
In which wildlife snowshoes are compared.

January, 2014: The Nightclub Principle


December 2013: Kiwi Stalking
In which noise is more rewarding than stealth


November, 2013: Beechcombing
In which Fretful demonstrates how to find beechnuts


October, 2013: Nuts to You
In which I rob from the rich and give to the poor (poorcupine, that is)