Deer Overbrowsing
I may not be an expert on vegetation, especially ornamental, but something seems…not right…here. You have probably seen similar sights in the last couple of months now that the ice and snow have fully cleared as White-tailed Deer did a number on anything they could eat in the Northeast. Everything just above their head is bright and green, and parts below are bare and brown. Our overpopulation of deer wipes the forest floors clean to the point where they must pick at what we could call scraps like these in our neighborhoods. Some people may object to wolves in their backyards,...
Read MoreWild Turkey: vicious predator
‘Tis now the season for the Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). I have been regularly spotting a couple of groups lately, one with around 18 individuals and another with around 8. Here is one bird passing through on a showery and cloudy afternoon. It is hard to believe how rapidly the species has expanded in many areas in the last couple of decades. Is their population increase partially responsible for a decrease in some woodlands herpetofauna? I posted a great deal about Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) this summer, and would you believe this very turkey is a potential...
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