Wiscasset's hidden marvels

Down East Magazine's Virginia Wright has posted a wonderfully intriguing article about Wiscasset, the self-titled "prettiest village in Maine."

Or how about the fanged bloodworm capital of the world? Not to mention all the ghosts.

Read the article here, and find out more about what makes Maine's typical beauty spots so atypical!
http://www.downeast.com/magazine/2010/august/what-about-wiscasset

Pictured below is Wiscasset as seen across Sheepscot Harbor during a 2008 sunset (photo (c)2008 by Michelle Souliere).

EVENTS: Halloween is Howlin'!

Every October, it suddenly seems like there are too many delicious things to do! This year is no exception. So far, here is a rundown of events that have come to our attention. First, items we've showcased already are listed here for easy reference (new events added 10/15/08):

Wicked Walking Tours of Portland

Haunted Freeport walking tours

Tales of Terror at Victoria Mansion

Zombie Kickball/March in Waterville (updated)

Fright at the Fort at Fort Knox in Prospect

Eastern Cemetery events in Portland

Thrill the World re-enactment of Michael Jackson's Thriller video in Gray

Now for the new items:

WHAT: Bangor Ghost Lamp Tour -- Imagine presidents, gangsters and ghosts as you take this educational and entertaining evening walk through Bangor history.
WHEN: Tuesday, October 14, 2008, 7:00pm
WHERE: Downtown Bangor Waterfront, Front St. Bangor. Meet at the River Front parking lot.
COST: $5, children under 12 free.
FMI: (207)942-1900, www.bangormuseum.com

WHAT: Lantern tours of Haunted Damariscotta & Wiscasset with the Lady in the Red Cloak. Wearing the garb of the Victorian era, Sally Lobkowicz will take you, lantern bobbing, through the winding back ways of two of Maine's old riverside settlements, and related haunting tales of their ghostly denizens.
WHEN:7:00pm, now through October 30th
WHERE:Starting location will be divulged when you make your reservation by calling (207)380-3806
COST: $10 per person, $5 for children under 12 years old
FMI:(207)380-3806

WHAT: The 1830-built Maine house featured on the TV show Paranormal State is offering tours. We related the story of this haunting in a previous post, which you can read by clicking here. Proceeds will be donated to the Animal Welfare Society.
WHEN: now through October 31st
WHERE: 1226 West Road, Waterboro, ME.
COST: $5 per person for self-guided tour (including pamphlet about the property's haunting), $25 for overnight stay.
FMI:(207)432-4119

WHAT: Haunted Hayrides -- a local classic of the season, this 40-minute hayride through the haunted, dark forest next to Scarborough Downs started out 19 years ago on a farm in Gorham. Not the scariest, but definitely a lot of fun for all ages, with great outdoor atmosphere.
WHEN:evenings, now through November 1st. Reservations recommended, call (207)885-5935 to pick a time and date. (NOTE: In past years, I've had a hard time getting anyone at this number during daytime -- it may be best to call in the evening.)
WHERE: Next to Scarborough Downs, off Route 1 in Scarborough.
COST: $13 per person, $9 for children 6 to 12 years old
FMI:(207)885-5935

WHAT: Goffstown's Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off and Regatta! Travel over to neighboring NH to indulge your love of racing floating pumpkins. See full list of events here. What, you find this hard to believe? See some footage of other folks' floating pumpkin vessels here.
WHEN:Race starts at 3:00pm, Sunday, October 19th. Events run Oct 18-Oct 19th.
WHERE:Downtown commons, Goffstown, New Hampshire
COST: Attendance is free!
FMI:(603)497-9933 or click here for schedule of events
NOTE: Check out a ton more spook-a-riffic and just plain fun New Hampshire events throughout October on New Hampshire Magazine's site.

Mystery Beast on the loose again?

Loren Coleman wonders, meanwhile a second lethal attack occurs...

Here is the first article from the Portland Press Herald:

Killings of sheep blamed on dogs
A coastal Maine farmer puts his losses at $10,000, saying several ewes were intended for breeding.
By ELBERT AULL, Staff Writer
June 4, 2007

Police said they believe a group of dogs is to blame for an overnight attack that killed more than a dozen sheep this weekend in Wiscasset.
...
Farmer Lee Straw left the carcasses out near the road Sunday while he waited for an insurance company official to photograph his losses.

"It's kind of too bad that people have to look at them, but if they'd keep control of their dogs, they wouldn't," said Straw, who runs Straw's Farm in Newcastle.

The sheep were part of a flock of around 30 at a pasture on West Alna Road.

Straw said he got a call around 5:30 a.m. Sunday from a West Alna Road resident who said the sheep were loose on his property.

He drove to Wiscasset from his farm in Newcastle and discovered the rest of his sheep running loose, along with several carcasses.

Only a couple of the 15 dead sheep showed signs of having been eaten, usually a telltale sign of a coyote attack, Straw said.

"These were just chewed up and left," he said.

The attacks were the worst for Straw in three years. He said he lost 17 sheep to a group of dogs in 2004, but police never found the dogs.

Police, along with Straw and the pasture's owner, said they believe a group of area dogs either jumped or pushed over the farmer's electric fence and went after the sheep. They said they do not believe the attack was the work of coyotes because few of the sheep were eaten.

"It has to be dogs, and more than one, because one wouldn't do that much damage," Officer Kathy S. Williams said.

Williams said no one in the neighborhood reported hearing the overnight attack, and police have no suspects.

She said the dogs probably toppled the fence, which delivers an electric shock on contact, to enter the pasture. She said the sheep were valued at around $2,000.

Straw said he believes the canines jumped his 4-foot fence. He said because about two-thirds of those killed were intended for birthing lambs, they would have been worth $10,000 over the course of several years.
...
[Click here to read full article: Source]

And here is the second article, from this morning:

Farmer loses 14 more sheep to dog attacks in Wiscasset
Police and game wardens try to discover whose dogs are responsible.
June 5, 2007
By ELBERT AULL, Staff Writer

The second dog attack in as many days decimated a flock of sheep in a pasture in Wiscasset on Monday, said police and game wardens.

West Alna Road residents found carcasses scattered throughout the neighborhood after the attack, which killed 14 sheep in the same pasture where more than a dozen sheep died the night before.

"Somebody has to know whose dog it is," said Lee Straw, 52, of Newcastle, a farmer who owns hundreds of sheep.

Police and game wardens spent much of Monday searching for clues to help find the dogs that are suspected of killing 29 sheep since Saturday night.

Investigators took hair samples and sent one carcass to a lab to measure bite marks.

Jeff Hunter, who lives about 50 yards from the sheep pasture, discovered the carcasses during a morning walk.

"I was having my coffee and cigar and I found another sheep dead next to my driveway, in a ditch," Hunter said.

He looked toward the fenced-in pasture on Bob Horne's property on West Alna Road and saw another carcass.

Hunter called Horne and the warden service. "What I saw was ugly," he said.

Investigators believe that a group of dogs, not coyotes, are to blame for the killings, said Mark Latti, a spokesman for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Few sheep were eaten, and coyotes attack prey for food, police said.

Straw, who runs a farm in Newcastle, has kept a flock of ewes on Horne's property for the past five years.

The flock trimmed and fertilized Horne's 30-acre field in return for the free stay.

It was an arrangement that ran smoothly until this weekend.

"We've never had this kind of kill on my fields," he said.

Horne said he checked on the flock after Sunday's Red Sox-Yankees game, which ended around midnight. The sheep looked fine, he said.

When morning came, Horne said, he and Hunter found carcasses "all over the neighborhood."

Straw said he believes that the same group of dogs was involved in both attacks.

He said that if investigators identify the dogs, his insurance company will likely seek damages from their owners.

Straw lost 15 sheep in the first attack and 14 in the second. The attacks whittled his flock on West Alna Road from 30 to just one.

Many of the sheep were pregnant ewes. Straw said they could have produced offspring and goods worth $20,000 during their lives.

Straw buried most of the carcasses on Monday, except two that had not been found and another that was sent to a laboratory.

On Sunday, he left a group of carcasses from the first attack near the road while he waited for an insurance official to catalog his losses.

Straw and Horne covered those carcasses with a tarp on Sunday night. He said he regrets not watching the flock overnight, with rifle in hand. He and Horne thought foul weather would deter predators.

"It was raining, and we thought we had them in a tight area," Horne said.
[Source]