Stephen Maier

15 November 2009

Lions and tigers and bears may exist in the forest along the Yellow Brick Road, but horses and cows are the only large animals I can find in the West Clark Woods. However, yesterday, November 14, 2009, I spoke with a local citizen and frequent visitor of Stone Hill, and he enlightened me about the wildlife of Williamstown. He told me that a friend of his saw a bear and two cubs running along Scott Hill Road a week ago. This news silenced me. Bears really do live here. Should I be concerned when venturing into the woods alone? I’d like to think a bear would pick on something his own size, so I rid the grizzly image from my mind.

Today, I have come to take a video of my site. But the weather is dark, cold, dreary, and rainy. There isn’t much happening within the site. However, I do begin to think about where all of this rainwater is going. Not to mention, about two weeks ago the fifty-year flood inundated Williamstown, too. Where does the water drain and why is the wetland not filling up with water? I believe that the rainwater from Stone Hill drains towards the West Clark Woods and runs downhill to the wetlands. This would lead me to believe the wetland has experienced a rise in water level; however I know the water level has resisted fluctuation. The water level has remained nearly constant since my first visit. I believe there is an external drainage at the other end, that may flow beneath Route 2/Route 7, which I have just noticed is visible from my site. This drainage allows water to flow away from the wetland preventing a standing body of water from forming.

Also, the rocks that I discovered and mentioned in a previous journal entry seem to have been dumped here by humans. There are far too many in such a concentrated area to be naturally occurring. They must have been from above, on the cultivated land of Stone Hill.

Reminiscing about the taste of hemlocks also helped connect me to my site. Why were these low lying hemlock trees untouched but the other plants on the ground, such as the honeysuckle, were cleaned of their fruit? The horses, cows, bears, deer, and other animals that roam these woods enjoy the berries but loathe the taste of the hemlock needles, just as I did. The needles not only taste bitter, but they also must torment the stomachs of these animals and perhaps scratch their throats while swallowing. It is no surprise they leave the hemlocks alone.

I recorded a herd of cows grazing in a leaf pile for a minute today. The cows contribute greatly to the dynamics of the West Clark Woods. They are responsible for clearing the grass, and apparently the leaves, and also for the plentiful amounts of cow pies littering the ground. However, they are not entirely to blame for the fecal matter, for the horses, which I interacted with last week, also contribute. The cows and horses, I imagine, consume leaves from the lower, or younger, trees and the berries on trees they can reach. With this in mind, each pile of feces may potentially be planting the next generation of berry bushes in the West Clark Woods. This may not, however, be the best situation, for most of the berry-bearing shrubs are invasive ornamentals, which inhabit and inhibit. They spread and invade the land of the native plants, preventing them from flourishing.

Today, November 15, 2009, I revisited my site to take another look. I wanted to survey the land and film some of its beauty. The camera does not focus on anything in particular. It scans the wetland, and then moves to the woods, then down to a small rock pile, and subsequently to the water flowing towards the wetland. During this, the light is important to notice. Though it is not a sunny day, there is still a difference between light in the forest and light outside, even if it is barely noticeable. All of the leaves of the deciduous trees, the paper, black, and yellow birches, have fallen but there is still cover being provided to the woods. This is due to the coniferous trees; the hemlocks that remain fully covered all year round creating the effect of light outside the woods and darkness within them. This is crucial for the wildlife, for during the winter, the forest provides a place to evade too much snow, and during the summer, the forest provides shade to escape the beating sunshine.

Wrapping things up, the West Clark Woods seem to be a place where the cows and horses can congregate to avoid inclement weather or sunburn. They are the most frequent visitors and I may be next in line. There is still much to learn about these woods, but I come closer and closer to understanding their past with each visit.