Now I know why the deer haven’t been ringing my doorbell and asking for handouts this year. They’ve found easier pickings thanks to a nearby farmer that didn’t harvest all his corn.

Can you find the deer in this photo? I did but I had the advantage of seeing some movement.

I’ll make it easier and zoom in. This is the same photo – only cropped and displayed without resizing the image smaller.

This time it should be easier. I did try to get closer and managed somewhat before my wildlife repellent gave me away. Following her nose the dog never did see the deer but they sure noticed her. There are two deer in the photo.

Same photo cropped for a better look at one of the deer. This photo is linked to one sized 1024 x 768 to use as desktop wallpaper.

One last look before turning tail. This image is also available to use as wallpaper

In all there were 4 deer in that spot. At the other end of the corn field I caught sight of a couple tails flashing as more deer bolted for the woods. I might leave Pookey behind tomorrow and see just how close I can get.

An old sugar maple tree provides room and board for a prickly rodent. The gnawed bark is a sure sign a porcupine has been dining out. Or should I say up?

As I positioned myself to get a good look the porcupine climbed up where the sun don’t shine. I caught sight of the tail just as it disappeared up the hole. Sounds painful doesn’t it?

There was no sense waiting for the porcupine to come back out so I moved on. It didn’t take long before I stuck my nose in another place it didn’t belong. A hollow log was too tempting to resist.

I thought the barely visible white things might have been some sort of fungus. I’m sure we can all imagine a number of reasons why sticking your arm into the hollow of a rotting log is NOT a good idea. I are smart so I used my camera to see what it really was.

Looks like I need to add porcupine booby-traps to the list.

A couple of photos from last year:

As cute and cuddly as porcupines are it’s best to leave them alone. Their quills aren’t the only things to avoid.

Do you have a sudden urge to get up and go brush your teeth?

Or would you prefer a back rub?

A light snow ushered out the last of the warm January days yesterday. We got 6 – 8 inches of incredibly fluffy stuff. I feel a bit dumb after shoveling the driveway now. After thinking about it I could have used the leaf blower on that snow.

Enduring a little bit of snow is better than being in the cold cold ground. I at least got their feet out of the mud during the thaw and placed them on the picnic table.

Forget it. One of us will lay an egg before he puts us away.

Wind followed the snow and blew the winter wonderland look away. It did form this Innie and Outie close enough to get in a photo though.
Both stems probably started out with the snow cones around them. I figure the unbroken one had an affair with the wind and screwed around until it ended up in the hole.

The small stream continues to flow. The cold reigns on the surface and most of the stream appears to be frozen in place. But even the sub zero temps can’t penetrate the insulating blanket of snow. You can tell the swamp is unfrozen under the snow when the mud wants to suck off your boots. In the stream, water still flows beneath the ice and occasionally breaks free to the surface only to be swallowed by the snow and ice again and again on it’s journey downstream.

Look again at the last photo and you should be able to tell the spot this one is of. There were a number of interesting ice and frost formations but getting down to their level is impossible without getting wet. I ended up on one knee in the water to get these shots. Maybe next time I should use the zoom?

Flowing water and wavy ice are nearly indistinguishable. The larger waves in the ice give it the appearance it has more movement in it than the flowing water.

Frost mimics fungus.

Yours Truly – a frosty reflection.