Former hermit ‘River Dave’ knows days are numbered at disputed property in US

David Lidstone, 82, who says his days of living off-the-grid in New Hampshire are numbered (Steven Senne/AP)

A former hermit in New Hampshire who went back to live on the wooded property he was ordered to leave realises that his time there is drawing to a close.

David Lidstone, who just turned 82, is scheduled for a contempt of court hearing in his tug-of-war with a Vermont landowner over a patch of forest near the Merrimack River that he has called home for 27 years.