Late-season wild weather

A multi-day snow event starting on the 24th of February affected the area, with over a yard of snow falling in many areas. Not only did it affect us, but it profoundly affected the area’s wildlife. Areas that were largely snow-free a day before were now covered by a thick white blanket.

Immediately apparent was that the snow was making it tough to get around. As I cleared snow from my driveway at the end of the storm, a herd of deer made their way down the center of the road, using it as a trail to avoid the extra effort of trudging through the deep snow in the woods. A couple of days after the snow ended, I took a long hike with snowshoes and saw very few tracks in the snow. A subsequent hike a few days later over the same area, however, showed an army of deer taking advantage of the trail I previously broke with the snowshoes.

Bird feeders and other easily accessible sources of food have been heavily utilized by all manner of wildlife, and ground foraging animals have been excavating snow in search of food. Behold some of nature’s creatures coping with this late-winter surprise.

- Scott Rando