Six inches of “sky-down,” more in some areas, have wildlife, feathered and furred, scurrying for food if not a place to sleep off what may have been a nightmare for some.
Snow and now single digit temperatures compounded problems of living for creatures, while others coped, and advantaged us who want to watch them deal with life during a Wisconsin winter.
But don’t cause these animals any more stress than they already have.
Birds of all sorts are easier to see, quicker to find, and make one wonder what an entire life of finding food, eating, seeking cover, and resting must be like.
Where permitted, this is an ideal time to attract large birds, particularly scavengers including hawks and eagles.
Other deer carcasses from roadside deaths, poaching, seasonal deaths, and more are quickly found and eaten by these big birds and nighttime animals, including coyotes, foxes, crows, opossums and raccoons.
While some animals are handy at finding snow-concealed body parts, they all can benefit from us using a shovel or leaf blower to uncover these remains. And it works, too.
A pair, one mature and one younger, of Red-tailed hawks fought over a partially-eaten carcass. The older bird was less tolerant of someone opening a window in a dark basement, even though masked head to toe, and sliding a camera in that direction.
Redtails are persistent feeders, sometimes remaining for hours, pulling and tearing flesh. Bald eagles are usually more content to take a large piece and be on their way.
Deer, too, are changing their habits. Browsing on woody plants and eating grass and hay shoots protruding above the snow put them in plain sight. After a snowstorm, deer are often seen feeding during daytime hours. Don’t miss the remaining nearly full wolf moon to light a night, either.
Not all whitetail bucks have clean foreheads. Some have one or both antlers.
Deer tallies, still being corrected, show hunters registered 326,306 deer (the extended archery season is still an outlier). The nine-day hunters registered 64.8 percent, gun hunters of all seasons registered 71.2 percent, and archers of all types registered 26.6 percent of that take. Archers of both types did take some deer during some of the gun seasons by using a bow instead of a gun.
The public delivered 16 sick or dying ruffed grouse to the Department of Natural Resources to be tested for West Nile Virus (WNV) last fall, more than what were brought in during the entire 15 previous years.
While a few of these 16 grouse tested positive for WNV, the big sample (238 birds) from hunters is yet to be tested. Look for those results in early summer when any conclusions will be drawn.
The 17th annual Wisconsin Waterfowl Hunters’ Conference will be held March 9, 2019, in Wisconsin Rapids. To obtain more information and a registration form, visit their website at www.wiswaterfowlersconf.org or contact Jon R. Bergquist at jonrbergquist@hotmail.com or 715-268-5584.
Fresh snow over ice requires extreme caution. Lower temperatures are sure to slow trout fishing, but will eventually give ice anglers more peace of mind.
— 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.
