Sights and Sounds

During winter 2017 we moved a deer carcass from the roadside into our field so the scavengers would not also get hit by a car.  The carcass was buried by snow, but later, as the snow melted, the eagles found it and fed on the deer meat for many days.  Ravens, a fox and coyotes also found and fed on the carcass.

 

This Canada Lynx was captured on a remote camera in January 2013.  They do not regularly occur in our area.  While the footprints were definitely huge and fluffy, we felt unqualified to make the Lynx vs Bobcat identification, so we ran the photos past 3 wildlife biologists, all of whom said “Lynx.”  The Lynx was attracted by snowshoe hares which were feeding in an area where apples had been used for bait during deer hunting season.  When we first saw the Lynx tracks, snowshoe hare tracks were everywhere, and we had dreams of getting some for ourselves after several years of scarcity.  When we last saw Lynx tracks, about 3 weeks later, the snowshoe hare tracks were few and far between.  And no, we didn’t get any hare that year!

 

As the pond awakens in spring,  tiny frogs emerge as  the ice melts.  In a few weeks their singing reaches an ear-piercing crescendo that finally signifies spring for our winter-weary souls.

 

Just a few weeks later,  songbirds also sing for territory and mates.

 

By mid to late June the bullfrogs take over,  their deep throated rhythm rising and falling throughout the evening and nighttime hours.

 

Sometimes nature just entertains us, like when these two young beavers played Peek-a-Boo with that human and his iPhone.

 

We do most of our harvesting during winter when our equipment does the least damage to the forest.  Many trees both living and dead are covered with Usnea sp. lichen (Old Man’s Beard),  an important winter food source for deer.  We try to fell trees in a manner that the branches are accessible to deer once the tree hits the ground.  We leave them there for a day or so,  and the deer come and literally clean off every piece of lichen they can find and reach.  Then we return,  pile up the brush,  and haul away the wood we will use for heat and to make our products.  These videos were captured by a remote camera we placed in the woods after cutting down a tree.  The deer came before the tractor got out of sight.