February 2, 2011
Still snowing! 71 inches so far with little or no melting! So it is really piling up in the woods. At this rate, we could break a snowfall record, which is probably around 100 inches. It is so deep that all the boulders, stumps and windfalls are invisible and the surface of the snow is smooth and flat. The cold seems to be hanging on also, 25 below this AM, but we are going to get a little break this weekend with temps approaching +30.
No wolf sightings this week, but still have the pine martens around and the red fox. I would guess food is getting hard to come by with such a deep snow cover………hard to catch a vole when it is snug and warm beneath 3 feet of snow! I would think the deer and wolves are having more difficulty getting food, too. The deer are pretty much sticking to the trails they have packed down in their yards and I’m sure the wolves are using the same trails. The deer can bound through the deep snow, much easier than the wolves can, so the deer may have the advantage for now. Later in the winter, when the snow crusts over, the advantage goes to the wolves. The wolves can stay on or near the top of the snow, but the deer break through, allowing the wolves to get the upper hand or leg?!
Our guests are having a great time with all this snow………snowshoeing is king this year. Some folks are breaking trail first with snowshoes and then going back and skiing in tracks. Works great! This past week, we had the folks from MINNESOTA BOUND doing a film segment on our cabins and winter fishing. We also had a writer from CABIN LIFE up to do a story. Both will be out next Fall, just before winter. We will keep you posted.
