French Broad Hollow Ramble

2-12-18

2-13-18

2-14-18

2-15-18

2-16-18

2-17-18

It’s been raining upriver this week, and the river was cranking mid-week. Video of river It’s been warm enough to set some record high temps (79 on Thursday!), but today has been colder and very windy. The power was out about an hour this afternoon after a tree knocked down a line somewhere. (The lines in the Hollow are all buried.)

I heard a large branch blow down as I walked down into the meadow, and when I came back up, I saw Vee eating lichen from the fallen branch. I think she was headed to the meadow when she encountered the lichen-covered branch and had an appetizer. 🙂

I call to the deer (Heeeere, deeeer, heeere deer) as I walk to feed them and have also been known to sing or whistle a modified version of The Holly and the Ivy.* The deer come when they hear me—or perhaps they hear the corn hit the metal pans. 🙂 Sometimes they come at a run, as in this video.

It may be early, but I have been watching for the first spring ephemerals (wildflowers). Thanks to Dr. John Nelson of the University of South Carolina, I finally know that this plant is a putty-root orchid (Aplectrum hyemale), and I will watch for blooms as I ramble in the Hollow.

*O the rising of the sun,
And the running of the deer;
The sound of birds singing in the trees
Is sweet music in my ear.

(You may notice that these opening views of the river have changed. I’ll settle on a new view soon, I hope.)

It’s rained off and on since Saturday but not the cold rain from earlier in the week. It was 58(!) when I got up this morning, and the high today was at least 65. I left my raincoat and denim shirt as I passed by the driveway and finished the ramble in a t-shirt. I guess the groundhog stayed out for a while last week, despite seeing her shadow, but I’m sure we’ll see cold again before long.

I’ve noted before that it’s hard for me to stay inside when the weather is nice. A little while ago, I saw some of my favorite deer in the field. Although I fed earlier (16 deer today), I decided to toss more apple pieces. As I walked down, I noticed the deer looking behind me. I looked back and saw the red head of a turkey peeking over the edge. I was able to get this video as he came down the hill and raced past the deer and me. Turkey running

There are eight houses in what I call French Broad Hollow, and it seems that we’ll have nine before too long. Some property that has never been developed has been sold, and the driveway and house site are already marked.

I pass by this area as part of my regular ramble, and I anticipate things to be busier and noisier, at least until the house is built. It will be interesting to watch how things change, and you can expect to follow along with me.

Sunny Groundhog Day has been followed by several rainy days. The rain stopped earlier today, and it warmed to the mid-50s. Yesterday a train passed as I was taking the photo, and I waited to capture  “decorated” cars. Sunday there was a fuel spill upriver and news about an oil slick, but it seemed to be gone by the time it got here.

The deer often walk up when they see and hear me. Here’s a video: Deer coming to meet me (Sometimes they show up when I am doing something else.) There are seven to ten that come on a regular basis, including the triplets and their mom and another family group that includes the ones I call “Fuzzy” (video here) and “Vee”.

These are White-tailed Deer. You can see their white tails in this video: White tails up! The tails are an alarm sign. And what caused the alarm? I tool this video a few minutes later: Feeding time

The deer and turkey have eaten and gone. Now it’s time to feed the indoor critters.

It was a sunny and brisk walk on this Groundhog Day; I guess that means more posts about cold and windy rambles! It was a few degrees below freezing (in the sun!), and I had to pull my hood tight and tuck my chin each time a gust of wind hit me. I didn’t dawdle when taking photos, either!

Wednesday was a day off from walking—it was 20 degrees in the morning, and I didn’t get home from “school” until late afternoon. The deer were waiting for me as I drove up the road.

They often wait for me in the meadow, and sometimes four tom turkeys (or jakes?) are waiting, too. These four come pretty regularly and eat birdseed that falls from the feeders, as well as the corn in the meadow. They are noisy animals!

Yesterday one of the deer waited patiently for me to finish my walk.

Once in a while I’m surprised by what I find in the Hollow, like this old thermos top. I’m often amazed, but not surprised, by the beauty I encounter, like the ice crystals in these puddles.

This little hollow is full of amazing sights, and I’ll be sharing more soon.

It’s another cold and windy day here in the Hollow. There was a dusting of dry snow overnight and a few flurries this morning. Now the sun keeps peeking out, and I expect to walk later.

The deer came early. I noticed one of the young bucks (born last year) in the meadow and then a doe and her late-season fawn who tried to run him off. (This doe and fawn come by many mornings and are not part of the main herd; they both usually run into the woods when I approach.) I threw a few apples down for them and before I even got back inside, four or five more deer showed up. I went to get more apples, and suddenly the whole herd was waiting! (Of course, I took down deer and corn for all 14 of them, but it was too cold to stop and take photos.)

About the apples—the apple growers here sell “deer” apples (also called “horse” apples). These apples are too small, too old, and/or too damaged for most people to buy. They are sold by the box or large bag for a bargain price. Once home, I pick out the rotten ones and use them first. (You know what they say about one bad apple!) I store them in the basement since I don’t have a root cellar.

At first (and before I started feeding corn), I would throw whole apples down into the meadow, but then I noticed that it was hard for the fawns to bite the apples and that the subordinate deer sometimes missed out. Now I quarter the apples and spread the pieces, often first feeding any deer who approach or are waiting for me. I sometimes toss the pieces close by to get the deer to approach. (I had one a few years ago that would eat from my hand.)

I sometimes see deer on my rambles. (I’m sure they see me more often.) They usually run, but sometimes they stop when they recognize me. I think they are wondering if I have brought apples.) Once in a while what I think is a deer is only a fallen tree! 🙂

This is a fallen tree!

The sun is out, and I think I head out soon to find out what I’ll see when I ramble today!

Nature is hard, and I am soft-hearted. My friends in Tuscaloosa called my house the Orange Street Animal Mission; they knew that I would feed any cat that showed up (and eventually adopt many of them). I’m happy that no stray cats have shown up at my house here, but there are plenty of other animals around. I feed birds (and, indirectly,  squirrels), as well as the deer you often see in this blog and the possums, raccoons, and other critters that scrounge for the leftovers in the dark (or sometimes in the late afternoon).

Much of the terrain in French Broad Hollow is steep, and the slopes and ravines are full of fallen trees, vines, etc.

Deer are generally sure-footed on these slopes, thanks to their hooves and strong legs. But those legs are slender, and sometimes when a deer slips in the mud and/or snow, something goes wrong. An injured doe that is able to get to the meadow, where they know eating doesn’t expend a lot of energy, will likely be driven away from the food by a dominant doe. When I see this, I feed the injured doe separately and keep the others away.

I recognize many of the individual deer and their families, and it is hard for me when one of them is injured. When I saw the first injured doe (Gimpy One) several years ago, I thought she might die in the meadow that summer day. Whatever caused her leg problem also caused her udder to drop, too, but she raised her two fawns from that year and another set of twins the next year. She disappeared later that fall.

Gimpy One could still put weight on her injured leg, but the others I have seen seemingly have not been able to do so. And unfortunately there have been several others over the years; sometimes I see them only once, but others come for several days or weeks. I feed them closer to the house, where I can watch. The latest one showed up last week and came regularly for several days, but I haven’t seen here since earlier this week.

I am lucky to be so close to nature, but sometimes nature is hard.

I bundled up and went out for a quick walk after my last post and then went for a longer one the next day. It hadn’t been above freezing, so it was a snowy ramble. I was interested to see what other critters had been out walking.

Turkey tracks

Rabbit tracks

Bobcat(?) tracks

I saw deer tracks, but they are so familiar that I didn’t think to take a photo. Here are the deer with lots of tracks.

There were tracks around my house, too, but I knew who made them. 🙂

Jet

Julia

Yesterday I marched instead of rambling. (Photo credit to WLOS staff)

It warmed to the high 50s yesterday and 60 today, so the snow is almost all gone.  After being cooped up, I think many folks have been out enjoying the weather. A few bicycle riders passed by when I was at the river today.

Tomorrow is a work day for my volunteer job, but I hope to get out for an early ramble and post about it later this week.

Don’t look for snow in this photo from yesterday! We have 3-4″ now, however, and the deer came early. They came down through what I call my “orchard” (2 apple trees and a few small blueberry bushes) down to the meadow, and I threw some apples down.

More showed up, so I took corn down to the feeding area. (I hope this link works! If it does, I’ll be including more videos in the future.)
Deer eating in snow

The snow stopped earlier, and the sun keeps teasing the solar panels that provide hot water for the radiant floor, but the blinds will stay closed for now. Today’s forecast calls for a high in the low 20s and some wind, but if the sun comes out and stays for a while, I’ll try to get out later. If I do, the view in the last photo  won’t look like this one.

Following the rain, the river is up again. Friday it was almost 60, then dropped to near 20 by Saturday morning. The high Saturday was about 25, and I passed on the ramble. I did, of course, feed the deer, and this is what it looked like.

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Today was still cold, but sunny. There were some interesting ice formations in the branch.

Vee was waiting for me yesterday, and I’m sure she’ll show up as soon as I head down, which I’ll do now.

Daytime temperatures have been in the 50s the last several days, and it has stayed above freezing, so the ice is mostly gone from this part of the river. Today’s rain and some errands in town kept me from a regular walk, and I decided I could use a rest anyhow. 🙂

The deer know when I’m bringing food (which will be right after I post this). Sometimes they wait for me

and sometimes they aren’t so patient.

I can usually see them before they come down, but they blend in well with the woods.

Tomorrow’s forecast calls for more rain and a high near 60, then dropping below freezing overnight. Saturday may stay below freezing (again!) with a chance of snow. Regardless, I plan to be out rambling and will let you know how it goes.