As you stand poised at the edge of the winter woods, it may be hard to imagine that within that stark, white, silent landscape, the resident animals are going about their routine of finding food and shelter. While the woods may seem to be asleep, a walk through them will show many signs of life.
Snow dampens any sounds you make walking, so you have a great opportunity to see wildlife, especially if you follow the lead of deer hunters: walk a few steps, and then stop and look in all directions, even back toward where you’ve been.
One of the tricks is to use your eyes not as a telephoto lens, but as a wide angle. Don’t peer, just keep your eyes awake and alert for movement – much of what you see will first be noticed out of the corner of your eye.
More than likely your first glimpse will be of a step or the movement of a tail or an ear – you probably won’t see an entire profile of a deer or a fox. If you see the animal before it sees you, freeze in position and you might get to watch for a good long time. Many mammals rely more heavily on their sense of smell than on their vision, and if your scent doesn’t reach them, they won’t spook. Deer, for instance, can stare in your direction from as close as 30 yards, but if your scent doesn’t give you away, they won’t detect you unless you move. On the other hand, turkeys have extraordinarily keen vision and can detect the slightest movement, even a blink of an eye.
What species might you see? It’s easier to start with those you won’t see: the migrators, such as waterfowl, many of the raptors, and most of the songbirds will be gone; and the mammals that den up for the winter – beaver, bear, woodchuck, skunk, raccoon, and chipmunk – will be invisible.
But that leaves all sorts of other birds and mammals. You just need to know where to look, because your likelihood of seeing a particular species varies with the terrain and the vegetation. Winter is a great time to venture out into swampy areas that are inaccessible when the ground isn’t frozen. You’ll likely see the work of beavers and their dome-shaped lodge, within which as many as a dozen beavers will be denned up for the winter with a cache of branches.
Otters stay active all winter, and you may see one galumphing along a river bank or swimming in open water. In the bottomlands, you might also come across the mink, who is never far from water. Its smaller cousin, the weasel, will be harder to see, because it molts to a white coat in winter. If the area is brushy enough, you could see a red fox or coyote padding quietly in pursuit of dinner.
If the woods are thick with young softwoods about the size of Christmas trees, the dinner they’re after could be the snowshoe hare, which will also be sporting its white winter coat. And if there is some agricultural land nearby, you have a good chance of seeing a flock of wild turkeys. They will be down from the ridges scratching for seeds, hibernating insects, and undigested corn kernels from manure piles.
Climbing into the forested slopes, the softwoods provide a safe haven for many species. A thick stand of evergreens creates its own microclimate with less snow depth, diminished winds, and slightly warmer temperatures. If deer are about, their trails may be so worn that they look like a dairy herd uses them. Even though you may not see the deer, they are in there. Don’t push them, because you’ll make them waste much-needed energy in running from you.
Red squirrels may squawk at you. If there are hemlock branches littered on the ground, look up and you might see a porcupine. Its nemesis, the fisher, could be traveling on the ground or climbing trees.
Many animals prefer the transition zone between softwoods and hardwoods. Here, you are likely to find gray squirrels and winter birds like woodpeckers, chickadees, bluejays, and evening grosbeaks. You could see an owl take off from its perch high in a pine and fly silently through the upper story.
In the hardwood stands, it’s easier to see and to travel, and for that reason, prey animals are less likely to be showing themselves. One that might surprise you – literally – is the ruffed grouse, particularly in the vicinity of its favorite food source, the aspen. You’ll know it’s a grouse when it bursts out of the snow in a wild beating of wings that leaves your heart pounding.
And here you thought the winter woods were silent and empty!