We’ll be talking about those friendly people in our next blog post, but meanwhile, let’s park the car and head into the woods to find some of our other winter’s residents. Check out our hiking page and winter activities to locate some of our favorite off-road places.
Strolling through the woods, we notice the winter tracks of wildlife. Each new snowfall wipes the slate clean, and each virgin footfall make you feel like an old world explorer discovering the new world for the first time. If the ground is covered in snow, then the landscape is draped in a slumbering silence. Barren trees on a windless day accentuate the feeling of being alive, or at least of being fully awake. Best to turn off your cell phone for fear of waking up spring. We’re not ready for her yet, but soon will be.
Keeping our eyes down to forge a trail through shin-deep snow, we notice round holes about 6 inches in diameter burrowed into the snow, their doorsteps littered with dirt from underworld excavation. A series of dots and dashes perforate the snow leading to the hole like Morse code, revealing the perpetrators of these tracks. “Wascally wabbits,” Elmer Fudd might explain. Rabbits don’t let a little snow deter them from their appointed rounds of gathering food and exploring the world above.
Allow your eyes to rise from the trail and you might be greeted by other Driftless Wisconsin residents. On the way to our cabin near the Mississippi River, three whitetail deer suddenly materialize out of the brush. They are as surprised by our coming as we are by their sudden going; our chance encounter akin to running into a skittish acquaintance who does not want to stick around and chat.
A while later we came across a flock of turkeys navigating their way through a cornfield glazed with snow. As discreet as turkeys can be in the woods – one of the most difficult of game to hunt or find – they saunter across the field like revelers on their way to a party.
Raise our eyes further and we might glimpse a bald eagle perched over open water waiting to be seated for dinner. While humans bore holes in the ice to fish, eagles are clever enough to gather around open water formed from fast-moving current. Consider “Eagle Appreciation Day” in both Prairie du Chien and Ferryville on Feb 27 as an opportunity to celebrate their regal presence and possibly catch a glimpse, reward enough for keeping vigil during a Driftless Wisconsin winter.
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