Syracuse.com - Ask the Outdoors Guy: Where did Nine Mile Creek get its name? Do foxes eat cats?

[HuntingNY-News]

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Send your questions to [email protected]. Include the phrase "Ask the Outdoors Guy" in the subject line.

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<p>Each week I get emails or phone calls from readers asking questions on everything from birding to bear hunting.</p>

<p>I do my best. If I don't know the answer, I try to find someone who does. Rather than just help this one person, I figured I'd start a new occasional feature on this blog entitled, "Ask the Outdoors Guy" so other readers can learn as well.</p>

<p>Have a question you'd like answered about the great outdoors -- or something that's happening wildlife-wise right in your backyard? Send me your questions and I'll see what I can do.</p>

<p>Send your questions to [email protected]. Include the phrase "Ask the Outdoors Guy" in the subject line.</p>

<p>I have two questions I fielded this week.</p>

<p><strong>1). How did Nine Mile Creek get its name?</strong> (<em>The question was submitted by Leonard Leonard Pyzynski, a teacher in the Marcellus School District who said he was asked about by a student and added that he had no idea)</em>.</p>

<p><strong>ANSWER</strong>: Nine Mile Creek flows out of Otisco Lake and empties about 26 miles away into Onondaga Lake. According to website I check out on the history of the town of Marcellus, the creek got its name "from the fact that it was nine miles from Onondaga Hollow, which at the time the first settlements were made at the Creek was the nearest settlement on the east. It was also nine miles to Buck's, the nearest settlement on the west."</p>

<p>2). Do foxes really eat cats? (<em>The question came from a friend, David Connelly, who seriously questioned a story I told him this morning. I was driving to go turkey hunting and I saw a fox cross the road with what appeared to be a cat in its mouth.)</em></p>

<p>ANSWER: I checked several websites and yes -- foxes on occasion do eat pets. Foxes are omnivores, which means they'll eat just about anything.</p>

<p><strong>According to the U.S. Humane Society website:</strong> "By and large, foxes seem to pay little heed to adult cats, recognizing that they’re dealing with an animal often almost their same size, with a well-deserved reputation for self-defense. Smaller adult cats and kittens, however, could be easy prey for a fox. So may dog toy breeds."</p>

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View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog