A Hard Year for the Deer

Apple tree bark stripped by the deer.

The early and continuing snows are making for a brutal year for the deer and other wildlife. The bears and the chipmunks are right to hibernate because "nature's bounty" this Winter has become "nature's cruel paucity". I guess the deer have it the worst. They are too heavy to walk on the surface of the snow and so they expend a great deal of energy struggling through the 4 foot depths we have on the ground right now. And of course there's the little matter of nothing to eat. I actually took this picture of our bark scoured apple tree a few weeks ago. Who know what the deer are eating now if they were reduced to eating bark weeks ago? On a brighter note, I saw Rocky the Flying Squirrel last night on one of our bird feeders. And we thought Barry the Barred Owl had eaten him!