A Year in the Forest

It has been wet for the past several days and with daylight savings time I have not been able to get in the woods much.  I have decided to move my walk to first thing in the morning and I did that today.  We have had several days of wet and unlike the city the forest has soaked it up with hardly a puddle remaining.   This morning it is dry again and I was struck by the colors of the forest.  It is mostly browns with the occasional bright red to catch your attention.  There are patches of stark white which are usually only bird poop.  I did notice the squirrels still active and saw one go in a hole in a tree I suspected was an animal home.  He sat there with his head out watching me till I got close enough to photograph him and of course then he retreated into the hole.  I have noticed that the animals in the forest are starting to treat me different.  I am able to get closer without spooking them, all except the deer that is.  Yesterday I had a deer in my yard and walked about 5 yards from it, before it ran off.  In the woods, I cannot get closer than about 75 yards before the deer run off.  Of course that is a good thing since it is deer season.

I saw an article today where people in New York state are reporting seeing a cougar/mountain lion and even had a good picture of one.  The government still maintains that there are no cougars/mountain lions east of the Mississippi.  Hmm.