I guess its been a harsh winter

Well, it seems the ducks, per the article I attached a link to, have really suffered some significant losses. The lab mentioned is less than 1/2 hr away. The great lakes and other rivers, bodies of water being froze over, causing starvation. Natural event, but makes you think. I have a small lake, large pond, 20 acres or so, that I look over out my kitchen window, usually this time of year, as soon as it thaws, ice is gone, those black and white diving ducks appear, lots of fry and other small fish here, wonder if I will see them this year, the numbers according to the article are seemingly quite large. Says they also resort to zebra mussels, which are contaminated.I never knew they traveled so far, great lakes, here possibly, and will head to Alaska soon, those that are left. Just thought it may be of interest, weather related, can't believe how the winter is still dragging on, full frost still here, but the sun is a lot stronger so things will still melt a little.

I had a dozen deer bed down around the house last night, where the snow is gone, they really put up with a lot this winter, I've seen it worse with deeper snow, but that too is a natural cycle, hard to figure how these critters deal with the weather like they do.
Article

Ya,they were reporting a similar story about the ducks here in Michigan a week or so ago.

It got up to 50 F a few days ago here in northern Michigan. We had a bat flying around by the house. This morning it was 14 F below and I suspect that bat is no longer living. Isle Royal had a wolf escape the island because the Lake Superior froze over enough for it to get to mainland. Poor wolf was found dead and was killed by a pellet gun. Somebody got lucky with a freak shot and it got between the wolf's ribs and killed it.

This year, winter has officially been winter. I usually don't care much for winter, but this year was different. I didn't mind it so much because it was officially winter. Kind of refreshing. Would have been great for kids to go sledding or skating on ponds or lakes like we used to as kids. But, when we were kids there weren't ipods and stuff to keep us occupied. Pond hockey, snowball fights and stuff is what we had. Cold fresh air.

Mark

Wow, thats incredible, must have been a powerful air gun, close range. I have to wonder was it a trophy kill or was the wolf a threat and taken down because of that. I realize those are or can be extremely dangerous, seeing what they can do to a coyote that makes the mistake of venturing into their territory or near a kill.

Game changer when there's a temporary land bridge, and having been since what '79 since there was so much of these lakes frozen over. I would assume people would be alert to the possibility of predators crossing over.

I read about the wolf being found dead but never heard that they had determined the cause of death. In the article I read it referred to the wolf being injured by other pack members last year or something to that effect.

This is true, we only got in one game of hockey on the pond this year, back around the 1st of January. There were a few windows where the weather and ice conditions were good, but the snow and other related weather screwed it all up, ice was terrible. I had cleared it another time and the ice was great for a week but no one had time to suit up and play, then there was a thaw, then a bunch of snow.

We did all those things as kids, soon as we got home from school, all season long we would go over to the field and the adjacent pond, spring/summer it was baseball, fall was football, winter was hockey. No electronic gadgetry at all back then, just a telephone and it was rotary dial, you had to call everyone to get them gathered up most every time. Those were the days, was also hardly any obesity in kids then too.

When younger, we always went sledding, seems we were never in the house, now we balk at the cold weather. When we were kids we frolicked in it, even in some colder temps, better circulation, or highly active maybe ? Don't ever recall being shivering cold for some reason, just some winter clothing, mittens, gloves, and recall how nice it was later when the sun went down to sit by the fireplaces, our big ole victorian house or further up the road at the neighbors. Of course there were barn chores and related activity here too, other kids did not have to deal with that, but that put us out in the cold weather daily too.

The results of the autopsy were just released. Death from a pellet gun that got between two ribs. That wolf was said to be "problematic" because it often got picked on by other wolfs on the island. The theory is that it wanted to escape for a long time and was finally able to do so when the lake froze over.

Mark,
I've removed more snow from driveways in W centeral In, than in the past 4 years combined. Enough is enough. Not official, but many record sub zero days too. Most I've ever paid for electric bills, $300 in Dec and $316 in Jan, 64 days total.
George

Pellet Gun Killed Wolf That Fled Isle Royale Park
March 15, 2014 7:50 AM

TRAVERSE CITY (AP) - A gray wolf that fled Isle Royale National Park across a Lake Superior ice bridge and was found dead on the mainland had been shot with a pellet from an air gun, officials said Friday.
The 5-year-old female, nicknamed “Isabelle” by researchers who monitor wolves and moose on the island park, was described as a loner that had been bullied by other wolves.
She escaped this winter, seizing the rare opportunity to traverse at least 15 miles of ice separating Isle Royale from an area along the U.S.-Canadian border. Isabelle’s body was found Feb. 8 along the Minnesota shoreline on property owned by the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
There were no visible wounds, and scientists initially said she apparently hadn’t been shot. But the pellet showed up during an X-ray, and a necropsy showed it had caused fatal internal damage.
The pellet was a type used typically to hunt small animals such as squirrels, said Phyllis Green, the park superintendent. That suggests the shooter may have been trying to scare off the wolf instead of kill it, she said.
Green described the wolf’s death as “a fluke thing” that resulted from the pellet striking Isabelle between two ribs and entering her chest.
“If the pellet had hit just a half-inch to the left or right, the outcome may have been less significant,” said Margaret Wild, the National Park Service’s chief veterinarian.
The Colorado State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory teamed with the park service on the necropsy.
An investigation concluded the shooting happened on tribal land, Green said. The Grand Portage Band prohibits hunting or trapping wolves on its territory but allows people to chase away or kill those creating a nuisance, she said.
Because it appears no rules were violated, the park service won’t try to identify the shooter, she said.
A message seeking comment was left with the tribal chairman’s office.
The tribe turned over the carcass to the park service, Green said. It will help biologists with Michigan Technological University, who have studied the island’s wolves and moose for decades, to learn more about the condition of island wolves, which are severely inbred.
An initial examination showed Isabelle did not have rabies or canine distemper virus, Green said.
Wolves initially made their way to Isle Royale in the late 1940s, probably across a similar ice bridge. They’ve helped keep the moose population in check, preventing them from overbrowsing park vegetation.
Wolf numbers reached 50 decades ago but have fallen sharply in recent years and now total only nine. Michigan Tech biologists Rolf Peterson and John Vucetich have called for bringing more wolves to the island to deepen the gene pool and prevent them from dying out. Other scientists say nature should take its course.
The park service is weighing its options, Green says.
© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

I have a 1/2 acre pond just behind the house. One pair show up every spring for a day or two then head out.

First time I seen one go under I thought it was never coming up.
Bufflehead duck

How can this be, Al Gore has assured us we're in dire straits and are all going to die do to global warming! The polar bears are all going to die because the arctic oceans aren't freezing over. I'm personally waiting for the oceans to rise enough to flood out New York and California so maybe our country could get back to normal.