Forest
Stewardship News Release
December
4, 2006- For Immediate Release
Contact: Jim
Finley , Phone: 814-863-0401 E-mail:
Winter Habitat: Seeing your Woodlot through Snow-Covered Lenses
The winter snows will soon be falling across Pennsylvania. When they do fall, the woods change. New fallen snow puts a different face on forests: the contrast of dark and white, the quiet and calmness, and evidence of who visits your woodlot and where they go.
Not all snows are equal. Wet heavy snow shows the tracks of the heavier and larger species – it is relatively easy to see tracks by your larger visitors – rabbits, deer, turkey, fox, and even bear. Crusty snow, which comes in wet and freezes hard, can obscure many tracks; even deer, in some cases, can move around secretly. A light fluffy snow, especially when the winds are calm, shows the tracks of lighter species, but sometimes obscures details. The right snow is light, but moist and holds details of even the lightest visitor’s tracks. In these snows, you can see the prints of squirrel, mice, and over wintering birds.
Where do you see the most tracks? Where do you see one species? Where do you see mixed species? By answering these questions and keying them to the forest cover and positions in the landscape, you can find clues for managing your woodlot. Or, you might use the information for planning future walks, anticipating what you might see and where.
Cover is an important wildlife component in the winter landscape. What species show up in different cover? Conifer cover is important for providing protection from wind and reducing snow loads by capturing flakes on the boughs to sublimate later. Conifers with limbs reaching closer to the ground provide more cover than towering pines with their limbs in the upper canopy. In the low conifers, tracks from the mice, squirrel, rabbits, game birds and over wintering birds are likely obvious. Are the tracks throughout the cover or only in patches? Do they congregate near food, spring seeps, in the middle or on the edge?
If the tracks leave the conifer cover, where do they go? This is an important story to learn from tracks. Where do the critters walk when they go? Sometimes there is nowhere to go; the patch of cover is alone, isolated in the landscape. In the future, as you manage the woodlot, can you create linkages? Perhaps, a landowner can plant some understory plants, reforest a field, or when cutting firewood, create brush piles that link pieces of cover.
Many people enjoy building brush piles. Many of the publications for forest owners suggest building brush piles as winter and escape cover for small animals. Visit some brush piles; can you determine what species are using them? Mouse tracks might be common around the edges and if there is appropriate cover nearby you might see the little pathways that connect the mouse’s world. You might even see the tracks of some local predators working the area. If one brush pile shows use and another does not, you might consider how they differ. The locations might be different, or the construction varies. Consider it and learn.
Spring seeps and snow often tell interesting stories. Spring seeps, those places where ground water makes it to the surface, are special for many wildlife species. Because this ground water is warmer, snow depth is less, and insects, seeds, and even small plants might be available to wildlife all winter. By looking at the tracks, you will learn who uses the seep and how. From what direction do they habitually approach the water? From what cover are they coming and where do they go. Oftentimes, it is useful to create cover near spring seeps. A top from a fallen tree, a constructed brush pile, or plantings of native shrubs may increase the value of a seep for wildlife. The story in the snow may help guide these management activities.
It helps to know your tracks. The best way to learn them is to observe what species makes them. Watch how them move as they make tracks, and then take the time, after they leave, to read the signs in the snow. One time a cousin of mine became very excited as he observed “grouse” tracks in the snow. This grouse, when we looked, did not walk – it hopped. For many years, we talked about the hopping grouse, which was really the loping movement of a squirrel. Many books are available to help identify tracks. Most show clear impressions as you would see them in mud. In snow, they will be fuzzier, but still distinct.
Take a walk this winter and look down at the snow. Think about who made them, where they were going, what they were looking for in the winter landscape. Follow the tracks and create a story about their lives in the winter landscape. You will enjoy the winter woods more and see it in different ways every time you visit.
If you would like information on wildlife habitat, visit Management Practices for Enhancing Wildlife Habitat at: http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/uh107.pdf or contact us for a hard copy.
The Pennsylvania Forest Stewardship Program provides publications on a variety of topics related to woodland management for private landowners. For a list of free publications, call 1-800-235-WISE (toll-free), send e-mail to , or write to: Forest Stewardship Program, Forest Resources Extension, The Pennsylvania State University, 320 Forest Resources Building, University Park, PA 16802. The Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry and USDA Forest Service, in partnership with the Penn State's Forest Resources Extension, sponsor the Forest Stewardship Program in Pennsylvania.
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