Hiking the Massabesic Experimental Forest for bobcat

Photo: Kevin Nowak

I recently snow shoed in one of my favorite hidden gems – an almost unknown forest in southern Maine. This piece of wilderness in not a park, land trust, or wildlife preserve. The Massabesic Experimental Forest (MEF) was set aside by the U.S. government in the 1930s, and was scarred by the great fires of 1946 that devastated 150,000 acres in southern Maine. It has since been used to study pine regeneration and other matters relating to timber production. Bear, moose, fisher, and bobcat all stalk this wilderness.

The Massabesic enjoys protections that have resulted in the growth of beautiful, old trees – larger and more mature that one usually finds in this part of Maine. The MEF is divided into South and North Units. The South Unit, which I recently visited, lies between Alfred and Kennebunk. It can be reached by taking route 111 to Alfred and then following the Kennebunk Road to a sharp bend at Ida Jim Road. This road cuts through a portion of the MEF. The road is gated in the winter, but there is parking for a few cars near the gate.

The Massabesic is more accessible than other Federal lands, with blazed trails, map boards, and interpretive guides (for some trails.) At the same time, this forest is much less visited and wilder than many better-known hiking areas in southern Maine.

We hiked down the road, around a few downed trees, to our trail head. The tract wound through sunny, open woods. We were soon down to shirtsleeves on this almost balmy day. As we walked, we nibbled on clean-smelling snow - grabbing morsels from just under the surface like tearing pieces off a fresh loaf of bread. Large glacial boulders, their sides shaggy with lichens, wore dollops of snow.

At a favorite spot, we angled off the trail to the edge of a brilliantly white, open marsh. A vast and cloudless sky hung above us. It was here that we saw our first moose tracks. The marshmallow snow held sharp, perfect impressions. We also saw plenty of deer tracks here.

We made for a large stone outcropping surrounded by a jumble of huge stone slabs. Lots of fresh bobcat tracks led into several dark openings, crossed the area, and climbed up the cliffy sides of the mount. There is no doubt a den here. We expected to see porcupine tracks here, but these were a few days old. Perhaps the freshly made fisher tracks explain this. The fisher is the primary (almost only) predator of the heavily quilled porcupine. It is not unusual, then, to see porcupine and bobcat denning in close proximity. While investigating, my friend came out of his snowshoe and his leg went into a crevice up to his hip. He was fine, but I could not help picturing a bobcat below, eying that leg while licking its chops.

Later that day we also spotted some fresh weasel tracks. Long-tailed and short-tailed (or ermine) are hard to tell apart from tracks. I imagined him watching us - his long, vanilla-colored body standing tall on his hind legs, his black tipped tail twitching. Almost all of the tracks we saw looked to have been made that morning (or overnight.) we were out in late morning, but winter allowed us a glimpse into the bustling, secretive world of wildlife that we rarely get to experience.

For more info: 

Massabesic Experimental Forest

MEF Management Plan (pdf)