Show I A Trek In The Snow By Dy 1 D D. D KEITH BARNES li Most of ot u us prefer preter the four 14 seasons Winter has its complainers com corn usually those whose t e affluence allows their retreat to to warmer places WINTER IS accepted by many as a challenge a time of oft I t year that brooks few mistakes Ji Snow years ears like dry years occur In cycles It lt means the shovel on a cold morning as asi i the smoke from the wood or coal burner recently lit rises straight from the chimney as asif t f t if from a gun barrel It Jt means mean meana t a white shroud spread over th the landscape NOT TOO long Jong ago it meant mean i huge Wood piles plies sleigh bells bell J c and the jingle of harness am and horses with a bundled up crowd I t. t little of at merrymakers merry paying heed to the zero sub tempera tempera- t tur ture Today Today people Ice lee fish ski and snowmobile Skiing of late has W become extremely 1 t a r rI I j. j t. t while snowshoeing has become becomer k f r a lost art It Jt is far too slow for j f the speedster of today l r L WHAT IS TIlE THE big Interest In Inthis Inthis inC C this white desert One must t 4 see and perceive to really enJoy en en- Joy it it- r r- r Here is a track In the snow unseen by the skier or Is it a coyote or other wild animal animal an an- imal Is it traveling or hunting hunt hunt- z- z ing The indistinct track In the light snow is followed to a amore amore more compact area an and we discern dis cern tern the clear print of a fox leading to a thicket Here a astory astory astory story Is etched In footprints IN illS HIS search for mice this predator accused of killing off last falls fall's grouse and pheasant crop has busied himself protecting pro the young tr tree e growth from the ravages of root destruction destruction de de- de by bya a colony of m mice ce Other Other- tracks track's smaller are are leading to the acorn tree Mr Squirrel may have been ben searching search search- in in ing for his dinner or Just play playfully playfully lay fully cavorting JUST BELOW in the creek th the the- beaver have built themselves themselves them them- selves a dam At the head of the pond is Is' their house near a border of f aspen branches Looking closely a faint mist arises indicating the family snug for the winter whiter Nearby Inthe in inthe the back water we se see muskrat houses and across across across' the ice the small tracks of a mink as they disappear under the ice fee Mr Mink is not above killing the unsuspecting muskrat in the murky waters below t Upstream a little ways the steep snow packed bank is glistening in the sun Here a adeep deep groove is seen It is a snows snowslip lip of of the frolicking ot ot- HERE HERE- H RE WE have found a whole community of wildlife The beaver built a dam at a favorable site where aspen were plentiful for food Muskrats Muskrats Musk Musk- rats located in the w water a ate t e r nearby with a plentiful supply of plant life ife and tubers for the winter The pond supplied a winter quarters tot for fish with the otter and mink thus provided with a happy hunting ground ON TIlE THE logging ground of the beaver the snow is well trampled by snowshoe rabbits A good place for a coyote breakfast In the spring a brace of ducks may take over the pond and raise a brood and trout will be awaiting the fishermans fisherman's fishermans fishermans fisherman's fish fish- erman's lure lute As we near the h headwaters adwaters of out our little lithe stream we come tome cometo to an oozing marsh of springs with the surrounding area covered cov covered ered with ash and alders Deer trails disappear in the swamp Climbing around and over fallen falten tallen fal tal- len ten timber we come to a well trampled bed grounds that reminds reminds re reo re- re minds one of a sheep's pasture Several deer flit away among the lower balsam branches CEDARS have been stripped of ot needles as high as the deer can reach and the browse ends of the balsam bitten off Sever at al dead fawn partly eaten by ravens and coyotes are seen with death due to inability to reach food toad in the deep snow The trek back Is filled with exhilaration as one reviews his visit to the wildlife community its lis Jess lessons ns are are wonderful and the day magnificent |