by Gary Lee
Snow fell on our landscape, but it only lasted through the weekend. This gave the hunters a chance to see if there were actually any deer in the woods.
This is usually the peak of the rut. Normally when you see a doe this time of year there is a buck not far behind.
The does have been around the house all week with their fawns, but no bucks are chasing them.
A couple folks who have been out and about sent me pictures of rubs on trees that were seven feet high.
These definitely weren’t made by bucks…they are moose rubs.
Others told me they saw moose droppings in most of the places they hunted, but barely a sign of a buck.
There is a small rub on a sapling behind the house so there must be a buck around somewhere.
As I look at weather coming this way, some folks out west are getting a good batch of snow this week—in the two-foot range around Denver.
The storm that hit here last week caused lots of tornadoes and heavy rains in many parts of the country.
We only got the tail end of the storm but it took down trees in several places before the snow fell. The prediction is about the same for this week; we’ll see what the tail end of the storm brings us.
I’ve been doing some skinning of fur critters. The beavers I’ve been skinning are about as skinny as they are come spring. They should not be going into winter that way.
I haven’t yet figured out the reason why they have no fat on their bones.
Either they know something I don’t or winter is not going to set in for a while.
The land fur fisher and pine marten have gotten prime indications as they have little black dots on the skin side of the fur that show when they are stretched.
Otter and mink also show black dots. The ones I’ve done seem to be very prime.
The deer got their winter coats very early and they are eating everything green in sight.
There weren’t that many beechnuts so they are feeding heavily on the wood fern fronds which are a substitute for the nuts.
These ferns are all through the woodlands but they don’t pack the punch that the beechnuts do to put fat on.
When winter gets lean of food toward spring or if there is a lot of snow the deer rely on that fat to keep them going.
Their bodies take all that fat reserve right down to the fat in their bone marrow.
When we used to check the dead deer found in the Plains in the spring we would chop into their leg bones and there would be a clear liquid with no fat left.
The birds have used this nice weather to keep on the move.
The snow moved a few into the feeder including gold finch, purple finch, juncos and one lone chipping sparrow.
I had two robins picking around in the wet ditch looking for a worm or two since the bear ate all my little apples.
There are still several trees in the Old Forge area covered with these little apples so they might be around when the cedar waxwings and bohemian waxwings come south.
Last year I watched the starlings clean off the tree in front of Helmer’s office in Old Forge.
I had a kingfisher around the pond this morning picking off some minnows.
The turkeys haven’t moved into feeders yet so they must be finding enough beechnuts and maple seeds to keep them going.
I got some basswood seeds off one tree that was covered with seeds. I haven’t checked to see if the rest of the seeds have fallen or not.
Some Christmas cactus are blooming and Bette Rintrona sent me a picture of hers which was covered with blooms.
Mine is just about done blooming but it looked nothing like hers. I think she gives it some Miracle Gro while mine just get water sometimes.
They get some water when Karen tells me my plants look a little wilted.
Speaking of Karen, she is getting stronger each day. Of course she’s trying to rush her recovery as she’s chomping at the bit to get back to the Library, but it will be a while yet.
Thanksgiving is coming so you better get a turkey…but that’s another story. See ya.