Today, while making dinner I noticed the deer hanging at the edge of our yard, out by the field. Three of them in all.
These two, an older and younger doe, were trying to find something in the berry bushes and the trash trees along the property line.
This one, who came later,
hobbled off towards the evergreens.
Yes, this one was crippled, and limping. Eating the white pines. Not their favorite food, but just about all that is out there these days. They are coming right up to the house at night.
The bottom half of this tree is pretty much devastated by them. They have also eaten every piece of young growth on the azaleas.
With all the snow on the ground, they are desperate to find food. This has been a harsh cold winter.
I have found rabbit scat beneath the bird feeders. That eagle has been hovering around here, looking for something to eat. The hawks are having a hard time, as the fields covered in snow make it impossible to find animals on the ground.
I don’t know the solution to this situation. Only a prolonged period of warming, that will uncover the ground vegetation, can solve the deer and rabbit food source scarcity.
We need the weather to change. It isn’t just the people around here hating winter. I think the animals are fed up with it too.
AnnieRie Unplugged 