Sap lines destroyed by critter?

[Jonathan Temple]

Does anyone know what critter is eating my sap lines I put up new lines last year and after the seasion and before this seasion alot of my new lines were chewed through and in two places they chewed up about 10 feet into little pieces so they must be bored? anyway I would like to know what I need to hunt ?

[mapleack]

Does anyone know what critter is eating my sap lines I put up new lines last year and after the seasion and before this seasion alot of my new lines were chewed through and in two places they chewed up about 10 feet into little pieces so they must be bored? anyway I would like to know what I need to hunt ?

Squirrels. Nothing but rats with furry tails. Even if you used to think they were cute, you'll grow to despise them.

[Jeff E]

Take em out. All of em, take out...

[ennismaple]

Sounds like tree rats to me. I haven't had any trouble with them yet but there's more deer chews this year than ever before. My main goal this weekend is for the porcupine in my new bush to get some lead poisoning!!!!

[Homestead Maple]

I've had an area have the same thing happen and it was coyotes. I've had some squrrel damage but it was miniscule compared to what coyotes will do.

[Tmeeeh]

Squrrels often chew tubing especially droplines and tubing where it is against the tree. If one or two of them learns that they can get a drink of sap or wash water especially wash water that had chlorine in it, they will really go to town and destroy all the tubing in the area. Make sure the tubing and drops have no water in them during the off season works best for us. Hunting, shooting, trapping all take time but are sometimes necessary to get rid of those individuals who have learned if they bite.. they drink.

Coyotes, deer, porcupines, woodpeckers, moose, floods, ice, wind and sometimes humans all have each in their own way damaged parts of our pipeline and tubing systems. Squrrels,coyotes and deer in that order are the most troublesome here. We generally check it and make repairs in the late fall. That way we have fewer repairs to make while we are tapping.

[tuckermtn]

Tim- how did you do on this last run for sap (tuesday-wedensday)? ran well in Andover...how has your sap sugar % been?

good to have ya on the trader...

-Eric

[Tmeeeh]

Eric,
We had about 2,700 gallons of sap each day. It tested at 1.8... last year it was mostly 2 to 2.5. Before Tuesday we were making A Dark on Tuesday and Wednesday we made a dark Medium. All of it tastes really good.

We are doing some recirculating of sap through the RO machine to make 8 to 12 percent sap to boil. It has been tricky to decide when to start the RO machine so that it finishes processing about when sap stops running for the day (or night). Both Tuesday and Wednesday we boiled well past midnight. If we had started the RO two or three hours earlier we would have finished that much earlier. Starting the RO too late means the evaporator uses up all the RO sweetened sap well before the RO is finished with the raw sap. Both nights we had to loosen up the RO and go to boiling 6 percent sap just to finish up.

Channel 9 NH Chronicle is coming here on Sunday to interview and film our sugar making. I think we'll be aired on Wednesday or Thursday next week.

[tuckermtn]

Tim- wish I could boil some 6% sap...are you all still wood fired?

good luck with the Chronicle crew...

weather looks good for the next ten days...

-Eric

[Tmeeeh]

Yes we're burning wood...still cutting non maples from the sugar bush. We've been burning just over one cord per 100 gallons of syrup. Made 275 gallons so far. This year I'm hoping for 900 gallons with just under 9 cords.. we'll find out in a few weeks.