On Tuesday, still staying away from deer hunters,
Remi & I hiked once again at Pine River Park in Alma. The early morning weather was overcast with a temperature of 30 degrees and snow flurries being blown by a light wind out of the west. I parked the car by the
boat launch and followed the paved trail west along the
riverbank where I noticed the rapidly decaying leaf litter had picked up a dusting of
snow. Among the litter leaves that I recognized were
Willow and
Cottonwood. Also, nestled in the litter were the colorful fruit of
Viburnum and
Wild Grape. Continuing west, I was amazed that a
Dandelion plant still looked green and healthy this late in the season. Up in a nearby tree, a well-fed
squirrel had a stare-down with Remi while on the ground I saw evidence of its abundant food
source. I continued to follow the path that was no longer paved along the river’s edge where I spotted a Muskrat dive near a couple of
lodges close to shore and a large gaggle of noisy
geese swimming far out beyond the ice in open water. Turning inland, I followed the trail south where the leaf litter included
human litter. Up ahead, I paused to observe a few
deer that were fortunate to have found refuge in the park during hunting season. Next, I turned east and entered a dense
woods where the leaf litter told me that
White Spruce and
Red Pine were growing there as well as
Red Oak. Following the narrow, earthen trail, I almost stepped on a seldom-seen leaf of
Chinquapin Oak while just off the trail, I spotted the lush, green foliage of
Christmas fern. Finally, we completed the circuit back to the car and took off for home.
Hunter or hunted
Man versus deer
Who has the edge?
Answer seems clear
Heated blind
Comfortable wait
High-powered gun
Pile of bait
Shots ring out
Bullets stray
Whitetail escapes
No death today
D. DeGraaf
No comments:
Post a Comment