Long Ridge Deer Camp Non-Essential and Quips and a Bit of Poetry

You know, I was never a huge reader of poetry..in high school, indeed grade school we read Frost, and recited the native greats, but I was just never into it. Later on in my education, I faked it. I just never had the intellectual discipline to understand or care for it. Some I loved, but my favorite poets changed over the years. Left some, came back to some. But now, officially in my 70's, I can say, I have come back too, and will stay with the best (in my world). Mary Oliver. In her New and Selected Poems, Volume Two, is one of the loveliest poems I have yet to cherish. Ants don't play a big part at Long Ridge Deer Camp, but they are certainly here. The poem:

In Praise of Craziness, of a Certain Kind

On cold evenings

my grandmother,

with ownership of half her mind--

the other half having flown back to Bohemia--

spread newspapers over the porch floor

so, she said, the garden ants could crawl beneath,

as under a blanket, and keep warm,

and what shall I wish for, for myself,

but, being so struck by the lightning of years,

to be like her with what is left, that loving.

I read that, and I weep. Maybe because I love nature in it's purest form. Maybe because my PTSD is kicking in. Maybe, only because this poem speaks. Clearly. I love it. In any case, if you spend much time in the field, Mary Oliver is a read. She understood nature, and the human spirit. She was a New Englander. We miss her.

And here below are a few left over pictures, and such.

A new pup graces the farm, and a million + lessons await him, and us. Everything is an adventure, from a leaf, to a flying flock of turkeys. Today, he sits on a static but running ATV, to learn the nuance of motor, and ride.

 This book ( I am so sorry I cannot seem to edit it upright no matter what I do) is THE New England go-to book for information on each of our amphibians, birds, and mammals. It is the best out there, the most accurate, and the one the best biologists in the Northeast use. I have read every page, and I am astounded at the accuracy and data. These two authors did a monumental work. Readily available.

What we are still doing, though we are running late. Four cords for 2022.

Below you see the results of LRDC members upgrading our hunting stands. Not done yet, but spring is about here!

Fires and cocktails, and lunches and fun, this winter at LRDC

The shot below is of a stump next to the Far Field. I had established a mineral lick here some years ago, and it is used regularly in the spring and summer. In the fall, deer pretty much lose all interest in minerals and salt. (It is a myth that you can 'bait' deer in the fall with salt licks. They have zero interest after August) In any case, I noted this winter, all winter, the deer were pawing and scraping to get at this mineral lick. Never seen it happen like that before. They have licked this black Cherry stump to nothing, and I had to pour 3 to 5 pounds a week there to keep up. So, research, phone calls, and conferences tell me that the past summer drought caused browse to be very short in trace minerals, and that depleted bones sought out a winter mineral source. Bonus! And a lesson learned!

 So, this will be the last of winter type pictures and adventures, so let's hail Spring!

Comments and query welcomed.

jackzeller@myfairpoint.net

First day of Spring at Long Ridge

  Such an easy and snowless winter we have had! Lowest recorded temperature at the farm was 12  degrees below zero, and only for a day or two. We never had more than 18 inches on the ground, and it never stayed around that long. The deer and turkeys had ample opportunities to dig out tons of acorns, and they did! Our fields, and especially the edges looked like football games had been played on them... As I stated in my last post, the deer census station was a bust this year, completely. First ever, that we have not been able to tabulate accurately the deer per square mile in this region. First off, there was so little snow in the early throes of winter that finding beds was next to impossible. Next, when we did get snow, it was so little, or lasted such a short time, that it was useless. Also, the deer were so free to move, and food so plentiful, that there was virtually no deer yarding up. The beds within the square mile that I could accurately count, numbered no more than ten. And, in fact, I never had more than ten deer on camera at one time. Several caveats to consider: Within a mile of the farm, there are folks who feed deer heavily all through the winter. Also, when winter is soft, and mast and other foods readily available, deer will roam much more widely than during a hard winter. Counting the beds, my typical take would be 10 deer per square mile of the farm. No way. I guess, closer to twenty as in past years. They are everywhere, and as often at high noon, as in the darker hours. This year, with camp gearing up again, and a doe encouragement (without babes) incentives, we hope to find out!

 Turkeys also, so many, so there, and so close! The toms fanning and strutting as early as January, but now about to go nuts!






And of course, the gray foxes, always beautiful, always there, and always attentive to the barn chicken situation. 

 






Attentive is the word I would also label this doe with. So graceful, and in such great shape..

 






Go ahead, mouth off to this old gal!









A few of the ten, scarfing a few whole corn kernels. 






I love the backdrop. That is deer camp in the background. I moved the census station a bit South because of ice this year, and  they did not seem to mind.



More deer camp and more deer pusses




Our regular flock this winter amounted to about 19 birds. 




The little guys below are always there...




The does below will be giving birth in the next two months!









So, winter is over, shed hunting coming up, and perhaps a bit of coyote patrol. Health issues aside, we'll try to get it all done!

Comments always welcome!

jackzeller@myfairpoint.net