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January 17, 2002 - A back-yard stroll in the snowThe Suffolk Times • January 17, 2002 A back-vard stroll L��F in the sn s Don't feel sorry for these cows when it gets cold and snowy. Their newly acquired heavy winter coats will keep the snow away from their skin. The 'snow actually gives them an additional layer of Insulation from the cold. ONCE AGAIN I'VE GONE OUT to teec1 the chickens and cows, but this time there's a new world out there and it's all white. It is our first snow of the year. It covers the ground by about a half -inch and makes things FOCUS look real wintry. The first thing I ON notice is the multitude of NATURE tracks, tiny little by Paul bird tracks Stoutenburgh around the patio where we had thrown nut bird seed. They've scratched through the snow and prob ably have been busy since dawn, Times /Review photo by Paul Stoutenburgh As soon as I step ott the patio, L sCc cat tracks. Feral cats are always on the prowl looking for a meal. Farther along the way, I notice the tracks of a mouse where it has hopped along. Now they are much easier to be seen by the owl that hunts at night. I won - der if the owl's keen hearing can pick up the sound of the mouse's feet on the crunchy snow? I've read they can hear a mouse tunneling under the snow. The chickens hear me coming and start talking up a storm, hoping that I will bring them something besides their daily ration of pellets. We keep a small bucket in the kitchen where we put all the leftovers of bread, rem nants of vegetables, bits of leftover Anything the chickens will eat goes into the bucket and, like dessert, they look forward to that more than any- thing else. I give water to the chickens, having brought out a kettle of steaming hot water because I have no way of keep- ing their water from freezing up. Each day their water has to be thawed out by the hot water I pour into the trough. The cows stand outside their little barn waiting for their ration of hay. They must have stayed out all night because there is a layer of snow on their backs. Their thick winter coats insulate them so well that the snow merely lies on top and doesn't melt. It actually adds an additional layer of insulation. I go inside and immediate- ly they come in. Soon I hear their munching jaws grinding away. They are content now. I wander out into the garden to see ow the ragged winter garden has een converted into a winter fairy- land with its fresh snow. The tall, dry, stiff sunflower stalks with their nod- ding heads have clusters of white snow on them. They look like minia- ture street lamps with their now bent - over empty seed heads. Farther on I come to the tool shed. Alongside, the yellow jasmine is just starting to put out its small winter blossoms. It has tufts of white snow clinging to each branch. Then I see deer tracks and, sure enough, they've been in the orchard nipping off every- thing they can reach, which is about five feet up. They've been so destruc- tive that we've given up our vegetable ;garden and just plant the things we know they don't like. I look up to the windmill at the far end of the pasture and there; sitting on top, is a red - tailed hawk. In the summertime a pair of them nest in the woods to the east, about a mile away. They come here almost every day to perch up high so they can see around in hopes of finding some prey to feast on; a shrew, a mouse, a rat or maybe a rabbit. The redtails will probably stay with us all winter long. Thev seem to make out auite well unni aeep snows come and hide their prey that live and tunnel below. Yet when there's just a little covering of snow like we got the other night, it could very well help the hawks and owls to find their prey, for they now will stand out against the white snow. Later I walked down to look over the creek. I saw the snow lying on the marsh grass, bending it down a little each day. With the added weight of snow on the now -dead grass it soon becomes part of the decay that makes our marsh so productive. You might call it a marine compost pile. It is interesting to see the mussels clinging to the marsh bank. They have an antifreeze that lets them get frozen and yet not die. They get revived on each incoming tide. When it goes out, they freeze up, only to be thawed out again by the following tide. Pretty remarkable. Alongside the dock is a little spot of open water and nearby, sitting on post, was a kingfisher. These open spots are their salvation. Should the water freeze over completely, the kingfisher will lose its access to the killies below. As I approach, it flies off chattering and scolding me for interrupting its important vigil. When the creek freezes up for the first time and a thin layer of snow covers it, you can get the false impression of thick ice. underneath, which, of course, it isn't. We haven't had enough cold weather yet to give us any real production of ice. When that happens, you'll see men and boy spearing for eels through chopped holes in the ice. On the way back I see the tracks of a fox; one paw print directly in front of the next, quite different from the common dog whose step is wider apart and not in a single line. It's been prowling, looking for something to scavenge on. Did you ever wonder where all the road kills go, who takes them away? It could be that prowling fox, for with its sensitive nose it can locate any unfortunate and make a meal of it. Nothing goes to waste, par- ticularly in the wintertime. On my way up our long driveway three deer bounce out of the stubble, their white flags up. Could they be the culprits who were invading my orchard? Where are they headed? I hope not toward the roadway. Our lane is a busy one and deer kills are common. A while back we found a big buck dead in our woods just a short distance off the road. Evidently, it had been hit and staggered off into the woods to die. Deer are a perfect example of wildlife out of control. Deer do what comes naturally to them, and over- populate. With no predators, their numbers grow each year. More and more houses take over their stomping grounds until now we see them every- where. Your expensive plantings and gar- dens now become fair game for their browsing. It's then you start to realize that what was once a joyful sight has now become your problem. You try hanging pie tins and streamers in your garden. You buy sprays and repel- lents; some help, some don't. You put up a fence, they jump over it. The only solution seems to be a fence so high they can't get over it and few of us want to invest in that.