Freezing Rain in February

I awoke during the night from the sound of raindrops on my window pane. It was hard to get back to sleep what with worrying about all the problems it causes. The worst is the build-up of ice on the power lines, coupled with strong winds which pull down the lines . No power, no sump pumps, equals water flooding the basement.

Ice on the windshield a quarter of an inch thick gets the day off to a good start. Car door hard to open, windows frozen shut, roads like a skating rink.

But all that is minor when considering the effect freezing rain has on wildlife. With our two feet of snow, a frozen crust cuts the front legs of deer as they walk. Owls are unable to break through the crust to catch the mice they hear under the snow. Ruff Grouse can be sealed in their overnight shelter and starve to death.

I am not going to complain as I will not suffer any injuries or die of starvation.

More Snow and Colder Weather

This morning started out at -18F, the second of two cold nights, with one more to go this evening.

By afternoon it was a sunny and a balmy -3F, so it was time to hit the snowshoe trails.

With three to four new inches of fresh snow, that makes a total of at least twenty-four inches of snow on the ground. The snow depth is very obvious on any large logs laying around.

The packed snowshoe trail is only six inches below the overall snow depth. Without snowshoes, the snow is knee deep and very difficult to walk in. The dog occasionally forgets and ends up floundering up to her chin.

The frequent snow falls through out January has made it difficult to keep all of our trails packed down. One in particular was deep with fresh snow so it was slow going. The old dog was not too happy as she has been spoiled with travel on the packed trails.