A complete contrast to this year's winter

My definition of my least favorite season of the year goes something like this: Winter is cold and dark. It usually takes hold in November and finally relinquishes to spring sometime in March. December, January and February are typically oppressive with snowdrifts, below-zero temperatures, blizzards, wind chill, and heavy snowfall. Many days are spent in the house sipping coffee or hot chocolate, playing cards, watching TV shows, and contemplating the snow plows through frosty windows as they open miles and miles of highway.

The winter of 2022-23 was especially cold and brutal. A ton of snow forced everyone to clear driveways, sidewalks and streets weekly. Many, many days brought us temperatures below zero and several large blizzards kept the kiddos home, although nowadays they still receive assignments from their teachers via the internet. It ruins the concept of a “day off from school,” but prevents the need to extend the school year because of missed learning days.

Last winter was very hard on wildlife. All across our state, and even here in southern Minnesota, lakes froze out, killing the fish.

What a complete contrast to the winter we are now experiencing. The “winter” of 2023-24 will likely be known as “the winter that wasn’t.” We have wracked up asterisk after asterisk in the weather logs. Forty plus days of above average temperatures, a good share of them daily records. It looks like we’re headed for highs in the 50s the first week of February. Only a couple dustings of snow, only two weeks of below-zero temperatures. 

When the news broadcasts mention some of our most popular and famous outdoor Minnesota events, it is to speculate they may be canceled, then to either cancel or modify them. No snow for ski races. No ice cover on outdoor ponds and rinks. No trails for snowmobiles. No snow-covered wooded trails for sled dogs. No giant chunks of ice for sculpting into elegant designs. Rain on Christmas day.

I just returned from an ice fishing trip at Lake of the Woods with my brothers. We go every year and stay at a resort just out of Baudette, as far north as you can travel and still be in the United States. Though it was January 17, we were among the first groups allowed to drive our pickup out onto the lake to our rented ice house. The resort owner told us she opened her resort in the 70s; she had never experienced such a late date for safe driving.

A quick aside to brag about my fishing prowess. Finally, it was me who had the “hot lure.” I personally put the first nine keeper walleyes and sauger into the bucket. I had respect, love and appreciation from my two younger brothers for the rest of the trip.

After enduring the challenges and hardships of last year’s life-threatening winter, wildlife is now getting quite a reprieve. Pheasants, turkeys, deer, bunnies, squirrels and birds of all kinds are finding food surprisingly accessible thanks to the lack of snow cover. Nights aren’t as cold as usual: They can conserve energy and body fat. Mammals and birds should be fit and healthy to raise their young this spring. Fish under the ice should be in good shape. The ice isn’t very thick, no snow cover, plenty of oxygen–no freezing out this winter.

The “Outdoor News” is a weekly paper full of great Minnesota sports and adventure stories. Some are very interesting to me. I’d like to share some of the news I have found intriguing so far this “winter.”

According to the DNR, there have been 77 verified sightings of cougar in our state since 2004. One of the most recent took place on December 4. A home security camera in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis recorded a cougar walking across the driveway late at night. The DNR has verified it was a cougar, and that it was prowling in the densely populated urban area. The DNR also confirmed a cougar was struck and killed by a vehicle traveling on I-394 near Theodore Wirth Parkway at 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6. 

Keep that in mind the next time you pull into your driveway later in the evening after an outing. If a big cat runs through the beam of your headlights as you open the garage door, ask yourself the question, “Was that really a cougar?”  The answer is yes, it might have been.

A while back I saw the movie “Cocaine Bear.” This film was very loosely inspired by the events surrounding a 175-pound black bear in Georgia that died in December of 1985  after finding and ingesting a duffel bag full of cocaine. As my friend and I drove home after the movie, our far-ranging speculations led us to the conclusion the movie was mostly fiction.

There have been reports from newspapers in Wyoming about grizzly bears and trains. The articles relate that the bears eat fermented grain spilled from rail cars, then fall asleep on the tracks.

According to the engineers, it’s a deadly game of “Chicken” between drunk grizzlies and moving trains: The bears lose every time. There have been many reports of bears raiding alcohol from coolers and passing out on lawns. I guess a bear really can have too much to drink. Imagine the ferocity of a bear-sized hangover.

We’ve all witnessed birds flying into the clean, beautiful, reflective glass of our house windows. In Minnesota during the fall, the fruit on crabapple trees may become fermented. Birds such as robins, cedar waxwings and others eat too much of the fruit and become tipsy. 

The next time a bird flies into your window early in the fall, pick it up, put it somewhere safe to sober up, feed and water it while it recovers, then wave good-bye as it flies away. If you’re a bit less certain about its welfare, you can contact Chasity Marquette at Aspyn Acres; she knows how to assess the bird and even treat some of its injuries.

Just a thought for those who would like to add an unusual touch to their get-togethers. Why not skip buying wine and just serve fermented crabapples instead? Apparently the birds find them quite tasty–but you’ll have to watch out that no one tries jumping through your plate glass windows.