I found this warning sign on the interwebs. It looks official enough and the advise seems sound but the last line should make you wonder how effective it really is.

I suggest not hiking alone. You know the old saying about being faster than the other guy when confronted by a predator. The pepper spray is much more effective in those situations if you use it on a friend.

Today’s temps hovered just below zero all day. At those temps the snow makes a squeaky sound when you walk on it. Tonight it’s supposed to drop to about -30F. Tomorrow should be very squeaky.

During the winter Mother Nature does a good job smoothing over all the cracks and potholes in the road. I decided to head up the road to enjoy the sound of of my footsteps.

Pook and I went up the road only a little ways before we turned left and entered the Cedar woods. We don’t go there often, it can be a pain walking through the area with all the dead-falls to trip over and branches that scratch both face and eyes if you’re not careful.

On a recent walk through the area I saw signs that a porcupine was present. Under a big old pine tree I had found droppings and yellow snow but no porcupine to be seen. On our return trip to the pine tree we came across a couple of deer beds. Pook got a good nose full before we moved on.

Guess I can’t complain. I have a nice warm bed compared to my four footed neighbors.

It was only a short way from the beds to the old pine tree. When we got there I found fresh signs from above. Guess what I found.

Not much more to see than a ball of quills. My new neighbor was tucked up on a branch about 30 feet high.

Dispite the cold, water still flows under the ice and snow. I found one tiny spot where flowing water could still be seen. Ice crystals growing in the clearing reminded me of ferns.

Weed free garden.
How the mighty have fallen. The victors of the summer battle of weeds may have gotten the best of me but they sure couldn’t stand up to the forces of winter. They now lie buried under snow leaving the garden clean and neat.

The cuttings from my Autumn Joy sedum emerge from the blanket of snow. The snow caps on them caught my attention so I began today’s walk with a side trip to the garden in the hopes of capturing a nice winter image.

Dog wasn’t amused. It was time to go sniffing about and any delay was not acceptable.

A fairy village?

Nope, just some garden variety snow cones.

And now for a little turkey

Pook as usual scared up a group of turkeys before I had a chance to. The turkeys had scratched up a section of the field foraging for corn. Here, she stands licking her nose after smelling turkey. Meanwhile the group made their escape but I did manage to snap a photo.

They’ll be back tomorrow.
The corn fields are the only reliable source of food keeping such a large population fed through the winter.