Winter Chores

A week ago I wrote a post about waiting to prune oak trees during the winter dormant season.  Someone asked me - Why are you pruning oak trees anyway.  What's that all about?

That's a good question.

Ultimately (probably not in my lifetime) someone is going to harvest these oaks for sawboards or veneer.  And the idea is to have at least nine feet of clear lumber - wood that is largely free of knots.  Eighteen feet is even better.

On the larger and more robust oaks they've been pruned to somewhere about chest to six feet in height.

So we're making progress.  Never take more than a third-off at any one time.

Before...

And after...

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Mud Season Arrives

Yup.  Mud season has officially arrived.

The snow is melting, the creek is flowing, the sump-pump is pumping, there is standing water all over the place and as the frost goes out of the ground the frozen turf is thawing.  The mud and muck of the season is materializing.

As evidence of this I am delighted to report that the first red wing blackbird of the season was announcing his presence (loudly and clearly) from the top-most branch of my best apple tree.  And a lone crane commenced a long glide onto the still-frozen pond at dusk.

And the blonde Lab got her first shampoo and hosing-off on the drive after gleefully rolling in all matter of thawing animal poo in the woods this afternoon.

Blech!

Alternate Modes of Transportation

Snowshoeing isn't the only way to get around...

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Too Many Deer?

Sometimes I wonder if we don't have too many deer around here.

Take this trail for instance.

It is like a deer super highway.  I'm going to locate a trail camera here to see what's-up.

And these cedars.

The browsing is heartbreaking.  Imagine if someone was attempting to begin a reforestation project.  If little cedar trees were planted today they wouldn't stand a chance.

The Grass Is Always Greener

There's an old saying about the grass being greener over the septic system.

Mine is still rather brown - but it's tastier anyway.

Deer have been coming around dusk to nibble...

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Sick Deer?

I'm not sure what's going on with this whitetail.  But it has spots or dark blotches on it's hide.

Is it the mange?  Maybe something else?

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Natural Movement Patterns - Part 2

Same day, different times, different deer.

Whitetail deer going about their business during daylight hours...

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Groundhog Indicted

As the state of Ohio continues to cope with cold weather and winter storms the furry rodent has been charged with misrepresentation of spring, a felony “against the peace and dignity of the state of Ohio,” wrote prosecutor Mike Gmoser in an official-looking indictment.

Punxsutawney Phil is a felon.


I get it.  Spring certainly hasn't arrived at The Platz either.

More snow last week and the piles left by the plow are now taller than I am.

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Off To Work

It's pruning season.

There's an old saying about when you should prune a tree - Prune when the knife is sharp. 

The ideal time to prune oaks is winter.  Even though there is no evidence of oak wilt on the peninsula why take any chances. 

Oak wilt is caused by the fungus Ceratocystis fagacearum. Symptoms vary by tree species but generally consist of leaf discoloration, wilt, defoliation, and death. The fungus is spread from diseased to healthy trees by connections between tree roots.  But it always starts when insects carrying the fungal spores are attracted to wounds on the tree.

The best way of preventing infection is by avoiding tree wounds when insects are active.

The girls always tag-along...

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Natural Movement Patterns - Part 1

I cannot say enough about deer moving-about during normal hours.

What a difference it makes when there isn't any hunting pressure or bait piles in the woods.

The deer come and go normally.

How cool is that?

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Bird in Flight

Once in awhile the trail camera captures something particularly cool.

While this is just an ordinary crow - the fact that it was captured in flight and is beautifully composed is worthy of sharing.

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Posing For a Holy Card

My pals Smokey Joe and Braumeister introduced me to the term: Posing for a holy card.

I have no idea what the derivation of this term is.  And there is nothing on the entire world wide web to help.

Nevertheless - these deer seem to be posing for a holy card...

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Guess the Critter

A few minutes before this picture was taken there were a couple of deer in the trail.

Then this critter showed-up.

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Just to the left of center there is an animal on the deer trail.  It is not a deer for sure. 

Any ideas? 

Where're The Whitetails

Try repeating that post title three times.  Real fast.

How many deer do you count in this picture?

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March 8 - March 9

Final couple of pictures from last week.  I cannot believe how many deer there are...

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March 6 - March 7

Here's a few more shots from the crossroads.  If you look carefully the deer in the second picture has shed his antlers.  Those dark spots are where they were previously attached...

March 3 - March 5

Oddly there were no pictures taken on March 4th.  Very unusual.  Even more unusual is the picutre of the deer still sporting his headgear.  I would have figured he shed his antlers by now.  One additional observation - only 4 night shots out of 317 total pictures.

Natural deer movement.  And a bonus turkey...

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March 1 - March 2

Second trail camera location.  The cros roads.

The deer and turkey camp guys know this location.  Smack dab in the middle where two mowed trails intersect.

I located the camera on a tree just south of the crossroads facing west.  There was a well-traveled deer track there.

204 pictures taken over a period of 8 days...

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Claude

Finally picked-up my finished black bear mount.  It turned out nice.

We call him Claude.

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Busy Eight Days

Two cameras and 317 photos over a period of slightly less that eight days.

Absolutely unbelievable.

Sure I know that they're multiple shots of many of the same deer as well as me and the girls but when you figure the trail cameras are rigged to take only a three-photo burst before timing-out for awhile that's still a ton of pictures.

A weekend ago I moved this camera to a tree on the south side of Silver Creek - adjacent to an antique haybine partially buried in a rock pile.  There was a busy deer track in the snow so a figured what the heck.

Here is a collage of pictures taken over the past week.  Just a handful of the 113 shots uploaded from the SD card...

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Beaucoup Deer

There is no shortage of deer posing for a picture on the trail camera.  Almost all of them during a variety of daylight hours.  Sunrise, sunset and all times in-between.  What a difference of lack of hunting pressure and baiting and feeding brings.  The deer are moving about naturally.

Here's a handful of shots taken recently...

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