It is officially spring today, but Mother Nature often doesn’t follow the calendar.
A robin is puffed up during last week’s cold weather.
While robins have been spotted – and photographed – the neighbor’s pond still harbors a cover of ice.
It is not known if this is this year’s nest or leftover from last year.
The spring peepers or chorus frogs are still silent in this blogger’s area.
That silence is probably due to the ice cover on the waterways.
The goldfinches are still wearing their winter plumage.
An internet search found that one sign of spring is that the goldfinches will start to brighten up for the summer. The goldfinches at the feeder seem to still be sporting their drab feathers.
Meanwhile, at least a dozen deer were spotted in one neighbor’s backyard.
A herd of deer graze in a Pinegrove Township yard.
The neighborhood herd has been spotted from time to time during daily treks.
It has been observed both on the trail camera and in person, that a few of the area bucks are sporting only one horn. This discovery lead to an internet search on shed hunting or the art of looking for the antlers that deer shed in the spring.
In an post titled “6 Tips to Total Shed Hunting” on www.archery360.com, deer “generally shed their antlers from mid-January to mid-March.”
For those weak at the knees and tired of tired feet, it would seem that shed hunting would not be for them.
This blogger likens finding a horn or two among acres of woodlands and fields to finding a needle in a haystack. It can be done, but it will take a lot of effort and determination.
Internet articles state that shed hunters would need to rack up the miles in order to find antlers. Other tips included using trail cameras to figure out who has lost horns.
People have also trained dogs to do the dirty work for them. There are canines that can supposedly sniff out the dropped antlers. However, the only thing deer-related that this blogger’s dogs find is deer scat, which is diligently searched for daily.
Buford and Sherman are on the trail.
A Walk in the Woods contains photos from newsroom staffer Anna Applegate’s daily jaunts around her neck of the woods. Tagging along on the treks are dogs, Buford, Sherman and Sadie, and goats, Kyle and Kennedy. Applegate manages the Good Times and can be emailed at bigdogs.thederrick@gmail.com.
