January 14, 2018 - Where are the Squirrels?

Where are all the squirrels this winter?  At this point in most winters there are scads of squirrels scampering around the woods and raiding Linda's bird feeders.

A red squirrel on alert

Squirrel acrobatics

But this year I had seen none until just yesterday when the very first gray squirrel showed up to check out the corn in the squirrel feeder and take a drink from the bird bath.

Time for a drink

A possible reason for their scarcity is the bountiful crop of both acorns and pine cones this summer, so their pantries are well stocked and they're staying close to home to eat.  But I'd be interested to hear if others have noticed a deficit of both red and gray squirrels this year.

I hope people got out to enjoy the silky-soft snow the cold weather provided before the rain hit on Friday.  I spent some time on the skis in Meredith's Community Forest this week (thanks for the invite BG!) and the conditions were perfect - soft snow, and no foot traffic had been on the trail.

Red Trail in Meredith Community Forest

Perfect skiing conditions

The Red Trail is ideal for skiing, and though it's open for snowmobiles, none had been on most of the trail.  The snow pack was deep enough to allow plenty of exploring off the trails as well.

Deep snow pack means you can explore just about anywhere you want

At one point we found a well situated weasel den under a large rock with fresh tracks leading from it.

A weasel's hatchway to the world

Recent tracks leading from the den

There were loads of animal tracks throughout Community Forest, in stark contrast to where I've been in the Lake Wicwas area where tracks continue to be far and few between.

I also took a ski trip up to the Drake's Brook Ski Trails in Waterville Valley which I discovered last winter are groomed, and I was thrilled with the quality and amount of groomed trails there - both skate and classic.

Groomed tracks for skate and classic skiing

If you're a skier I highly recommend the area;  there are miles of groomed trails with excellent maps and signs throughout the trail network.  The trail head is on Rt 49 in Waterville Valley, 0.5 mile south of the intersection with Tripoli Road.

But then on Friday, the world changed again - as New England is wont to do - and skiing came to a screeching halt.  The temperatures rose some 60 degrees from the lows a week ago, from -10 to 51 degrees.  And then it rained.  In 24 hours we lost 14 inches of snow base.  Of course, that didn't last long, and today the high was back down to 16, and tonight we'll be below zero again.  Looking at the positive side, at least we didn't have to deal with the two feet of snow that two inches of rain would have brought, and we did get the roofs and ice dams cleared out.  (Though some areas had to deal with serious and dangerous flooding.)  And with the lake absorbing all that rain, skating was the activity of today, and will be until the next snow arrives.

And I thought we were going to be skunked with skating this year.  One never knows what New Hampshire has in store for us over a winter.