Outdoors - Midwest weather

   One constant about the weather in the Midwest is that it is not consistent. Last week, we had temperatures in the low teens. Over the weekend, the temperatures were in the high eighties. A person can see the effects of the temperature swings on the wildlife. With cooler temperatures, deer were moving at all times of the day and night. When it got warm again, a person had to kick the deer out of their bedding spots in order to find any. 

   Yesterday, my wife and I were running around the timber changing out memory cards on the cameras. We only saw two deer. They were bedded down near the trails we were riding and did not care enough to run very far. With their warm winter coats, they preferred to rest quietly in the shade.

Normally on the route we took, we would have seen a dozen or more springing lightly through the timber. I am sure the deer were in the usual places; they just chose not to move. 

   From the time stamp on the cameras, we could tell the deer were still roaming around, they just switch to being active in the wee hours of the morning when it is cooler. I was surprised when I checked the extra camera we had set up on a trail that goes through the willow trees. It is a new Ranger trail roughly made on an existing deer path. I know deer like to bed down during the day in the lush grass in the willow thicket. The counter showed 606 pictures had been taken in a week. I thought that was incredible. Every deer and turkey in the area must have used this new path, several times each day. This, unfortunately, was not the case. There had been a strong wind blowing for a couple of days. The collection of pictures included one picture of me walking up to change the memory card, one picture of a doe using the new trail, and 604 pictures of the grass and willows blowing in the breeze. We decided to move that camera farther into the willow thicket where the wind could not move things as easily.

   I have been watching two chicken of the woods mushrooms as they slowly grew. It has been so dry; they have been slow maturing. Last weekend,

I cut off a small part of the larger one to take home and fry up in butter. It was delicious. With the unusually warm weather of the last few days, I was thinking the rest of them should be ready to harvest. We drove to the old oak tree where they grew just off the Ranger trail. Much to my disappointment, the deer had beat me to them. One was totally gone and the other was mostly eaten and the remains shredded. Apparently, deer know a good thing too. 

   Coming out of the timber as we headed toward the house, the setting sun lit up what remains of the colorful fall foliage. The lake was blue and clear as four trumpeter swans glided in to spend the night with the two swans that have been staying here. Though it has been unusually warm for a few days, the swans know the weather will change. They are moving south to our place to avoid the cold weather up north that will be moving in before we know it.