Yesterday seemed like spring had finally come to the midwest. After the harshest winter I can remember, temps would top 80 degrees. It was time for a walk along the familiar trail to see what had changed while I was experiencing "cabin fever".
One of the first things I saw along the trail was this dead shrew.
It was dried up and had probably died under the piles of snow and ice that only recently have melted away.
Farther along the trail I approached our deer head area. These heads, the result of a chronic wasting disease project, had provided food for many animals during the winter. We had seen hawks, bobcat, fox and others near the area. And the smell had now dissipated. Much of the flesh had either rotted or been eaten leaving some bare bone exposed. The skulls would soon be used to mark the trail.
Finally, I approached the house and our bird feeding station only to discover a dead opossum under one of the feeders. When I had seen it only a couple of days ago, it had seemed sick. This animal almost made it through the roughest part of the year---but not quite.
My hike this day reminded me that there is a time for all things. Winter had been a time to die for many of the inhabitants of our woods. I look forward to spring....the season of renewal. Surely it can not be far away.
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