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    It seems we have moved from a mild fall weather system directly into the dead of winter. Pleasant fall mornings with falling leaves have suddenly become cold, snow-covered days.

   The swans had been gradually moving south as the weather cooled to our north. Each morning, we would have six or eight trumpeter swans gliding gracefully across the lake as they stopped to rest and feed for a few days on their migratory route. When the cold weather hit, we suddenly had groups of up to fifty swans each morning. The unique occasional trumpeting increased to a loud chorus of calling that would wake us in the mornings. When they take off to go on their feeding flight to nearby cornfields, they make quite the racket. If the cold continues, the large flocks of swans will continue their journey south as the lake becomes more ice covered.

   We saw an unusually large production of acorns, hickory nuts, and walnuts this year. The turkeys are appreciative of this. Rather than traveling distances in the snow, they only have to fly down from their nighttime roost high in the oak trees and plow away snow around the base of their roosting tree. It looks like a herd of pigs have been on snow removal duty when they get done. They know where the nuts are located and clear large areas of leaves and snow to get to them.

   The deer seem to be tolerating the cold better than I am. They have been growing their winter coats for several weeks. During the warm fall days, they were not appreciating the extra layer of hair and spent most of the daylight hours bedded down where they could keep cool. With the cold snap, they are spending more time moving around and feeding during the day. Deer normally eat the small stems and buds off trees and brush as well as all types of nuts. Much like the turkeys, deer will plow down through the snow to find the acorns and hickory nuts. I discovered this week that they will also eat hedge balls or hedge apples, the large ugly fruit of the Osage orange tree. I had never seen this before and thought squirrels and rabbits were the only thing that ate them. Speaking from experience, I do not think they taste very good and are difficult to eat. If all deer eat them, they should have an easy winter as there are as many hedge balls as acorns across the farm.

   There was a time when I felt sorry for the wildlife having to endure the cold and snow. I hate the miserable winter weather so I thought they must also. I have since learned, most wildlife do not mind it and if they do, they go south where it is warmer. The deer actually appreciate the colder weather since they have grown a winter coat. Turkeys sit high in the trees with a frigid wind blowing them around and do not seem to mind a bit. To me, the swans have the best plan. Stay until it gets cold and then go south where it is warm and do not return until spring when we are done with cold, ice, and snow. I would not mind avoiding the winter weather altogether.

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