Put this on your reading list! "Bobcats Before Breakfast" by John Kulish

[Jason Berard]

A friend recommended I read this book recently, so I went to the local library to see about taking it out.
Well, 4 months later, after they had finally been able to locate a copy in Essex Jct, VT, I finally got a call that it was in.

What a fun read. The fellow who wrote it, John Kulish, made his living as a guide, hunter and trapper in Hancock, NH in the mid-20th Century.
He writes about the knowledge he gained about the natural world by making his living this way with great charm.

One passage in particular had me laughing out loud. Bushwackers: I know you will find this amusing in particular.
Anyhow, he is in the doctor's office for a physical before he heads overseas after being drafted, and the doctors are peering into his ears, and puzzling over what they are seeing. They each say that they have never encountered anything like it in their entire professional lives. The head doc then proceeds to flush his ears out with numerous bulb syringes full of warm water until all manner of fir and spruce needles pour out onto the tray. Apparently, the guy had needles stuck in his ears from all the bushwacking he had to do to make a living.

Anyhow, give it a read if you are looking for a different way to look at the woods we all love.

 

[Quietman]

John Kulish was my high school ecology teacher. He was quite the character to say the least, but he loved the woods. A favorite memory was on a walk behind the school and he bent over to pick up some scat to examine what animal left it and what it had been eating. Then he told everyone in the class to pick some up and break it apart. The looks on some of my classmates faces where priceless. Next, without even wiping his hands on his pants, he picked up an acorn, cracked it with a rock and ate it. I think that he only taught for a year or two.

I learned the word scat from him.

 

[Andrew]

Agreed Jason, this was one of my favorite reads many years ago.

I used to live in Nelson on the other side of his neighborhood ridge. Up on Osgood Hill (aka: City Hill, Nelson Pinnacle) there is a spot called Kulish Ledges. Neat spot with some limited views that is on Harris Center Land. I and friends had are own network of routes to explore the area, and big cats are still present as my friend has a very large cat track plaster cast taken from a log road leading up Osgood. Recently some scouts blazed some old and new trail from the Nelson side that leads to the ledges and applied the name "Blacktop"?

 

[RoySwkr]

John Kulish led nature hikes for the Harris Center for many years, chiefly tracking in late winter. One feature was that he always made a fire at lunch and brewed a pot of tea to share, just black tea seasoned with whatever spruce needles fell in. Other nature educators may be better in imparting information but nobody can top his atmosphere.

 

[Jason Berard]

Roy, Quietman, and Andrew: Thanks for sharing!
Harris Center does some great work. It doesn't surprise me that John Kulish would be involved with their organization.

 

[Maddy]

Thanks for the recommendation. I have it on hold at the library.