Ah, those winter days when nine inches of snow piles, blows, and bends backs.
Or thermometers get a workout displaying numbers and mercury levels not realized since the year past.
These are advantages for some, struggles to others, but mostly just plain dealing with it.
We’ve heard stories of ruffed grouse snow-roosting, sometimes diving into a drift or even 12 inches of fluffy stuff overlaying the land. Snow is great insulation if it’s not too heavy and hard. Crusts on top hinder most but advantage light predators who sail over the top while sharp-hooved deer cut through.
Below those drifts and still deeper are mice and shews who can often get what they need by never coming above to look, even for a shadow.
Plant root systems and crowns are usually protected from raw winters by snow’s insulation. Some plant parts are protected from gnawing rabbits who don’t touch the under-snow stem regions while girdling the above stuff. Farm crops, winter wheat and alfalfa, are advantaged by snow cover, while often killed by snowless Decembers.
The lake sturgeon spearing season has been hampered somewhat by ice conditions and water clarity, but still goes on. On day eight of what is likely to be a 16-day season, spearers have captured 453 fish, 22 at or above the 100-pound category. Continue to watch the daily news releases through season’s end, likely not until Feb. 23. Or better yet, visit the in-person registration stations around Lake Winnebago in east-central Wisconsin.
Robins continue to amaze birders, even though we know a sizeable lot of these birds, and bluebirds, take advantage of sun-thawing ice and snow on rooftops to get needed water.
Berries become the food of choice from hackberries (City of La Crosse) and crabapples (most urban backyards). Recently it was noticed that these birds had found some albeit temporary satisfaction on small buckthorn trees, now that other food sources are low. But beware, birds, the buckthorn berries can cause diarrhea, which can weaken robins. Blue stains on walkways and houses are often the result of robin droppings from birds who have been eating from this forbidden fruit.
Ground feeding for a dozen bird species has been as successful as feeder displays, Bob Ross, at Wild Birds Unlimited Nature Shop on Old Sauk Road in Middleton, said.
“Meal worms, live and dried, have been taken by bluebirds and robins,” Ross, who has both, advised.
Carolina wrens and flickers are two of the more uncommon birds visiting area feeders, with red polls and pine siskins being no shows during this unusual winter.
A few bluegill anglers fishing private ponds in Green, Dane, Sauk, and Lafayette counties have complained about grubs in the flesh of some ‘gills.’ Don Martin, at Martin’s Sporting Goods, said. Some anglers don’t notice them, and likely eat them.”
Coyote hunters continue to have success with dogs and are good, with prime pelts bringing about $50, he said.
The DNR reported that wolves depredated a beef calf in the Town of Oakland in Douglas County.
Backwater and slough panfishing and walleye catching have been good, according to Wayne Whitemarsh, at McFarlanes’ Sports Department in Sauk City.
An outstate fur buyer has one more trip to McFarlanes’ early next month.
Fall turkey hunting continues to be a missed opportunity with the success rate the last two years running about 5 percent. In the 2019 season, there were 3,792 birds registered, which is 10 more than in 2,018.
Keep noticing spring-like things popping up. A few blooms and bud swellings can be booked, turkeys are responding to coyote howls, and bucks are shedding their antlers. All are signs we’re heading toward spring, March 20.
— Jerry Davis is an Argyle native and a freelance writer who lives in Barneveld. He can be reached at sivadjam@mhtc.net or at 608-924-1112.
