Winter Trails for Wildlife

 Winter is harsh on wildlife. Food sources are limited and therefore the animals energy levels are not optimal. 

All winter wildlife have adaptions which allow them to survive during the lean months.

White Tailed Deer for example, enter a state where their metabolism reduces to the point where they can subsist on buds from trees.  

Never feed deer in the winter unless you can sustain it over the entire duration of the cold weather. The food you feed them will increase their metabolism to the point where they will become dependent on you for survival. 

You will help them much more by simply creating trails in the deep snow with snowshoes, skis or snowmobile.   This allows the wild ones to move through their home territories with very little expenditure of valuable energy. 

Of course, the wild ones do not need us; but since we live in their homelands, it suffices to say that helping them out by simply packing down a few trails goes a long way to making our transgressions feel less intrusive. 

Happy Wandering. 

  

Blood trail in the forest

 The forest is built upon layers and layers of humus, in other words, decaying matter. 

Death is a constant and is absolutely necessary for the survival of a healthy forest. 

I have taught this simple lesson to thousands of children and adults through my career.

I have witnessed wolves hunting and killing deer, otters killing muskrats and beavers, fishers killing porcupines and a host of other predators doing what they must to survive. I see a design in this, a reason for the killing. I see the forest flourish because of it. 

When I see humans, decked out in the latest hunting attire and carrying the latest technology designed to make the kill easy, I see an imbalance, an unfair advantage.

I have killed, not for need of meat, but rather to end the misery of an animal which has been mortally wounded. I hold no ill-will towards human hunters as long as they follow the rules and hunt ethically. 

For me, all life is sacred and should be treated with respect and compassion. We are an apex predator and as such have a responsibility to act sustainably. 

When I see a blood trail from an animal in distress, I am compelled to follow. I have an innate desire to uncover the story behind the crimson writing on the forest floor. 

A Winter Walk in Algonquin Highlands.

The March sun fills the forest with a warmth which has been absent for several months. 

As the sun stretches the shadows from the trees, I wander through the woods with no destination in mind. Animal tracks dictate my direction of travel.  

Wandering in this fashion allows one to purge the concerns of tomorrow and live for the very moment in which you find yourself. 

Even if it is just a fleeting release from the realities of the man-made world in which we all must function, taking a walk in a place where trees grow and wild ones walk always returns me to a place within myself which I call home. 

Whenever you get a chance to drift away from everyone and wander through the woods, don't hesitate, jump right in and lose tomorrow for today. 

  

Keeping the trails groomed.

When the snow gets deep in the woods, the wild ones follow in each others foot prints creating trails which crisscross the forest. 

In the woods which I call home, there are many such trails which lead from feeding areas to sleeping areas. There are always stories written on the snow which, to the observant eye, will entertain the imagination for hours. 

I have always groomed trails through that same forest using my little Yamaha Bravo. It is light and maneuverable allowing me to go into areas modern machines can-not follow. 

The snow gets packed down by the sled and within a few hours, the wild ones are using the trail as if it were a sidewalk. Wolf, deer, moose and a host of other forest dwellers leave their footprints superimposed on the track impression of the Bravo. 

This video is a rear view look at the grooming process as I traverse my forest following and being followed by the wild creatures which reside within its shelter.