January 21, 1982 - Wildlife Weathers SnowSECOND SECTION The *tlffolh TiMC5
Wildlife'Weathers Snow
Deep snow seems to spell disaster to
many species of wildlife. Deer in deep
snow don't have the mobility they are used
to and are confined to winter pens, so to
speak, that have open trails they follow.
Here they can survive for some time if the
spot has good browse, but usually this is
not the case.
I remember finding thirteen dead deer
in a pine woods where the deer had gone to
get out of the wind and snow. They had
stayed there and browsed on evergreens
which prove to have very little food value.
They soon became weak and perished. It's
a hard thing to comprehend but thinking
back this culling out has gone on since the
dawn of time. Nature has its own way of
controlling population, sometimes it's
very drastic while other times we may not
even be aware•of it.
Deep snow also takes its toll on the owl
population, for now their food supply of
mice and voles is hidden safely below.
Tunneling along beneath the snow, these
tiny rodents are continually seeking out
new sources of food or just investigating
their hidden world.
The owls from barn owl size down have
the most difficulty because they are not
large enough to take bigger._ game such as
the rabbit that hops along on top of the
snow. The great horned owl, with his
larger size and speed, probably is helped
by the snow for his target now is
silhouetted clear and becomes easy prey.
We ail know how much easier it is to spot
an object on the white snow than on the
mottled floor of the forest.
Barn Owl on Porch
It wasn't long after our heavy snow that
my telephone rang and the person on the
other end excitedly told me they had a
barn owl sitting in their enclosed porch. He
didn't know how it got there but specula-
tion was that perhaps in the night the owl
flew in pursuing a mouse or other rodent or
perhaps even its eye caught the movement
of the family cat and followed it. The cat
was much too big for this size owl but who
knows the cat might have been in pursuit
of a mouse -- we'll never know.. But
nevertheless there it was fast asleep on the
table when I arrived. After all isn't that
what owls are supposed to do during the
day?
To me it was a privilege to see that
handsome light brown and tan owl at close
range. Its head seemed to swivel com-
pletely around as it followed me in the
room. When it flew it had the ease and
grace of a large butterfly. Often it would
cling to the screen and open. its wings for
balance, those long sharp talons easily
gripping the wire.
Of all our owls, this one has the most
deliberate face -- almost heart - shaped --
ftc,�Ufl,(?� N)I
I n-MTq
with a sharp beak in the center. It takes on
a truly owlish look. We wanted to let it out
for it had spent one night already without
food and not having any mice to feed it, we
made preparation for its departure.
For some reason birds and animals
never seem to do what man wants them to'
do, especially when you want them to get
out of a building. You can open windows
and doors and they, in their excitement,
will head for the exact opposite spot. But
with a little patience I managed to get the
bird on a stick and with outstretched hand
slowly walked it over to the open door --
and it was off.
Flight of Owl Beautiful
The wild flight of something set free is
always a special sight for me. What a
wonderful feeling it must be to once again
beset free after having been captive in one
of man's menageries. Off it flew to the
chimney top of a neighbor's house, only to
sit there and survey the area.
In no time the alert was .given by the
neighboring bluejays and the harassment
was on. From nowhere the jays flew in.
Almost like a magnet they were drawn to
the owl. Before this there wasn't a sign or
sound of a jay about but now screams and
darts of bluejays were everywhere. Not
appreciating being the center of attrac-
tion, the owl took off, butterflying its way
through the trees as the jays voiced their
triumph of attack.
Night settled over the land of white and ..
cold. I'm sure that owl, like so many
others, hunted in earnest that night. I hope
it was successful and will think no ill of his
one night stand on the back porch of a good
neighbor.
Besides the event of the owl today I was
involved with our annual duck count here
on the East End. The cold weather had
made my job easy; the bays and. creeks
were all frozen which meant I didn't have
to search there to count. The majority of
my counting was on the extreme East End
and it was there I found in the open waters
great flocks of scaup and scoters with
groups of oldsquaws, mergansers, golden -
eyes, buffleheads and a few black ducks.
My list wasn't impressive but then the
iced -up waters were mostly responsible
for that. But driving around I did get a nice
view of a marsh hawk. This is the hawk
CHAROS SOUND
EASTERN I.J.'s LARGEST AUDIO-VIDEO SPECIALISTS
WINTER CLEARANCE SALE
50 MAJOR BRANDS - AUDIO, VIDEO, T.V., ACCESSORIES
28 Cameron Street WHY DRIVE WEST? winter Store Hours
Southampton, N.Y. January 1 - March 31
283 -4428 Tues. - Sat. 9 - 6 P.M.
K
1992 Mazda
GL C's
As kw .as *FM p.o.e.
IMMEDIATE DELIVERY
35 EST AC EST HWY
MPG 46 MPG
JANUARY 21,1982
BARN OWL —The moles, mice and rats that are the food of this owl are
hidden well below the snow and from here on he will have to look doubly
hard to survive. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
you sec: gliding over our fields on long, another visit of the deep freeze. This
outstretched wings, You can identify it by means Mother Nature will again be
its white rump. It had caught something weeding out her species. Some of you
and settled in a cauliflower field to eat it. might feel this a cruel and unjust world.
Of course, my curiosity made me stop the Yet there are always tthose that seem to
car and e;o out and check. What I found survive and the losses are built into the
were feathers which meant that this hawk scheme of things.
that usually lives on mice, shrews, voles, The losses that are not built. into this
rats, and so forth, was now forced to eke scheme of things are the ones made by
out a living by taking small - birds. I think man -- his destruction of habitat, his
we can vxcuse him during this diffir ult pollution, his misunderstanding. These are
weather. The good they do ridding the area the real disasters to the natural world.
of rodents far outweighs the loss of a few Until we can come to grips with them, all
birds. our wildlife will continue to suffer.
Tonight the radio said we're in for PAUL STOUTENBURGH
We're paying
the highest rate
allowed by law on:
6 Month CD's °'�
° h
11effective 998O� annuony 13m352%te
aual
al yield
and
30 thru
Month CD's Feb. 1st
1
16m13% effective 14m75%rate annual yield annual
on
Plus ... a Free Gift or Cash
And ... a Free 5'/4% N.O.W. Checking Account.
ESTABLISHED 1899
EMB ERAL
ffiSAVINGS& LOAN ASSOCIATION
- _ . I Riverhead office 655 Old Country Road,
Rte. 58, Riverhead Shopping Plaza, Tel: 727 -7700
Other convenient offices in Nassau and Suffolk
W. - r, 1W, member FSLIC