Mainebiz Special Editions

V O L . X X X I I N O. X I X 36 Fact Book / Doing Business in Maine FAST & FURRIEST: The fur was flying. And singing, dancing, flirting, game-playing, parading, shopping, networking — even raising money for a good cause. The occasion was the fourth edition of Furcationland, a convocation of furry creatures — and the humans nestled inside of them — that descends on Portland for a weekend every spring. Each day kicked off with a livestreamed news show, a game room was busy from dawn to dusk, and artists and sellers of costume components plied their wares in a makers' market. One highlight was a "fursuit" parade from the hallways of the Holiday Inn By the Bay (top right) to Monument Square. Another was the raising of more than $10,000 for the Short Folks for Hope Foundation, a cancer support charity. NOT KIDDING AROUND: Goats in Maine work hard for the money, whether mowing lawns, serving as adjunct yoga instructors or, in this case, going on book tours. Here, owner Tonya Ng of Hidden Grace Farm in Hollis poses with Beans, an eight-month-old Nigerian dwarf goat, after explaining the wonders of goat-dom to a group of children at the Libby Memorial Library in Old Orchard Beach. Hidden Grace's goats make regular visits to classrooms, birthday parties, community centers and the like, providing insights on animal behavior and farm life. "Our goal is to spread access to agricultural education and experiences," Ng says. When indoors, the goats wear diapers. SHEEPISH GRINS: While rain didn't deter the large crowd attending Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village's spring festival on Memorial Day, two sheep chose to behold the festivities from under cover. Visitors who braved the elements got up close to animals ranging from the supersized (cows and oxen) to pint-sized (ducklings and rabbits) to diminutive (bees). Cotton candy and herbal popcorn were in abundant supply, and craftspeople sold products ranging from artisanal soaps to alpaca wool on the grounds of the Shaker Village, under the same management since 1783. To top it off, there was Brother Arnold's freshly baked rhubarb crisp. PLOVER PARENTING: Summer tourists on southern Maine's beaches include piping plovers, compact (just over seven inches at adulthood), pale brown-and-white shorebirds with black neckbands and orange beaks. Under federal species-protection mandates since 1986, Maine has made a concerted — and, for the time being, successful — effort to build up plover populations, roping off secure nesting zones and posting beach monitors to deter human and animal predators. Maine Audubon counted a record high of 174 breeding pairs in 2025. Glennis Chabot, a retired science teacher who coordinates the daily 13-hour volunteer shifts at Higgins Beach in Scarborough, says the job is "to make sure that dogs don't get into the plover restricted area and to educate beachgoers to make sure they're not playing games etcetera around the chicks." By Labor Day, the birds shown here at Higgins — a 10-day-old chick and two adults — will be back in the Bahamas for winter.

• Cover