BREAKING TRAIL

  

Snow can be a blessing or curse if you are a bird or animal enduring the harsh northeast Minnesota winters.  Cedar Ridge has received over 50 inches of snow since December 1 and some of our resident animals are having a difficult time.

The deer are close to belly deep in some areas where they browse.  It is difficult for them to ground feed in this snow, so they are browsing heavily in the moose maple and alder.  I haven't noticed any wolf kills so far this winter season, but it is early yet.  Last year I counted six wolf kills from January until March, quite a few for our immediate area.

                     Gray Fox

Gray fox seem to disappear from our ridge for lengthy times during heavy snow periods.  We have had gray fox families on our ridge for the 5 years we have lived here.  Mother gray fox raised a litter of kits a few years ago.  One of her kits stayed and raised two litters until her death last spring, a story in itself for a later post.  I don't know the exact order, but they hate wind, heavy snow and coyotes.  Our first year on the ridge, we had a 15 inch snowfall and the fox was gone for over two weeks.  Returning only after the snow had settled and they could follow the deer trails and my snowshoe trails.

Today was an exceptionally mild day, the temperature hit +18 so I strapped on the snowshoes and headed up the ridge.  After each modest snowfall, I have been breaking trail through the white cedars and the ridges of moose maple.  I do this to make the travel more easy for the animals.  Each day when I return, I find tracks of deer, fox and two days ago a timber wolf.  Today after I made a half mile circle, I found deer had followed my trail back down the ridge.

On a side note, I am never alone on my snowshoe trips.  A few chickadees and Red-breasted Nuthatches meet me as I approach the first clearing on the trail.  I whistled a few times and the whole flock flew towards me to dine on their favorite seeds.  I continued up to the end of our land where it adjoins the Superior National Forest.

                     Norris's Nemesis 

Invariably, when I reach our land boundary, a humorous confrontation results... like clockwork. Exactly at the land line, two other Red-breasted Nuthatches, are not at all enamored with my feathered entourage.  Nuthatches are very territorial and unlike chickadees, they do not appreciate the arrival of my two nuthatch friends.  The perimeter around the seeds in my hand becomes a noisy battleground of the two male and female nuthatches.  The two males are fluttering beak to beak like hummingbirds, noisily trying to out posture the other.  Each time this happens, I have to laugh out loud and I tell them like little children to "share".  While this confrontation is taking place, the chickadees get to dine in peace, but not quiet.

  

The border line between these four nuthatches reminds me of a canine invisible fence.  It really is incredible how they know the line of their territories.  I am not sure of the exact distance they venture in and out of their territory.  If you could find their home and stake out a line, I believe their territory would make a radius of around 500 yards.  There are times however; that a pair of nuthatches will follow me the entire time I am in the woods... which at times ranges from 3 to 8 hours.

It is always interesting to return to the forest the next day to see who has been traveling the snowshoe trails.