Most mammals sit tight during a snowstorm, tucked in their dens, warm and dry. Wait two days and the woods will be full of their tracks / Look for the paired tracks of fisher zigzagging along wooded edges and in the woods / Northern flying squirrels prefer evergreen woods; southern flying squirrels prefer hardwoods / The snowshoe hare is well named. Its furry feet are very large for its weight / A raven may commute over 50 miles daily to a good food source

If you find a half eaten mouse or small bird impaled on a hawthorn, you’ve found the work of a northern shrike / The early morning songs of cardinals become more frequent and intense as the cardinal breeding season approaches / Meadow voles breed almost all year ‘round. Fortunately, they are eaten year-round, too, and are the major food now of hawks and owls / Single male pileated woodpeckers drum frequently. Their loud drumming diminishes at the end

Early robins are getting worms, where the ground has thawed / Raccoons go wandering on the warmer nights and may not end up in the den they started from / Buttonbush seed heads often stay intact through the winter. Spring floods will carry the floating seeds to new shores / Chickadees begin the songs that help establish their breeding territories. Spring is in the air / Common goldeneyes and common mergansers can be seen on ice-free sections of large rivers