By Mary Drew at Pasty Central (Mdrew) on Thursday, May 1, 2014 - 07:47 am:
Bill Haller reports that the bushy tailed guy in the first two photos has been coming around several mornings now, looking for something to eat and says that even sunflower seeds will do. He figures the fox is more camera shy than a Pileated Woodpecker, since he's always on the move and is hard to capture a good shot of him then. I think Bill did just fine with these two here today, though.
With Bill's remaining two photos, he gives us a vocabulary and nature lesson all wrapped up in one (actually two photos). You're probably wondering what on earth this is a photo of, right? Well, it is the perfect example of the definition of the word:
subnivean - Subnivean climate refers to the zone in and underneath the snow pack. From the Latin for "under" and "snow". This is the environment of many animals that remain active during the winter. This zone provides protection from predators and insulation from the elements. Wikepedia.
This is what was going on during the winter, beneath the three plus feet of snow that was in Bill's yard. Most likely dug by a vole, he figures, who was making his way to the sunflower seeds that the birds had so kindly dropped underneath the feeders. And I bet you all thought that nothing goes on under all that white ground cover here in the Keweenaw all winter.
