V O L . X X X I I N O. X I X
34
Fact Book / Doing Business in Maine
P H OTO E S S AY
im Neuger, a Cleveland native and Princeton
graduate, worked as a print repor ter and
bureau chief in Germany and Belgium for Bloomberg,
covering economics (the rise and near demise of
the euro), politics (remember Helmut Kohl?) and
war and peace (from the relative sanctity of the
NATO pressroom). He enjoys riding horses, and
can name ever y Kentucky Derby winner since
1875. He and his wife Renee Cordes, Mainebiz
deputy editor, live with their cockatiel Kori in Cape
Elizabeth. Some of Jim's work is on display at
www.jimletpix.com.
J
A
s a rural state, Maine has inbred ties to the
animal world. Moose roam the North Woods
and adorn the state flag; lobsters grace dinner
plates and license plates; chickadees, themselves long-
time license-plate decorators, tough it out through the
winter, unlike the human snowbirds who flee to the
south. Maine is home to 56 species of wild mammals,
at least 34 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 292
species of birds, according to the state's Department of
Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. is photo series looks
at some of the creatures — wild, domesticated and
purely imaginary — that call Maine home. It omits
Maine's 16,000 species of bugs and invertebrates.
Creature comforts
DONKEY BUSINESS: Animals are known for their competitive instincts, but some are more competitive than others. Here, Clover, a 24-year-old miniature donkey, resists the gentle urging
of his handler, Lily Richards, to jump over a flower-bedecked obstacle on Donkey Day at Skyline Farm in North Yarmouth. Clover just happens to be "quite clever and mischievous," says
owner Judy Ballantine. (His half brother, Barnaby, is more the laid-back "Winnie the Pooh" type.) Besides staging events like the donkey games and farm fests, Skyline Farm is home to an
antique carriage exhibition, including a sleigh that ferried children to school — thus depriving them of snow days — in the early 20th century.