The Rhinelander Daily News - Online news and information for the Rhinelander, Wisconsin region

“February is nature's way of making sure that we appreciate May.”~Reader's Digest

Welcome to February. The shortest and sometimes the snowiest and coldest month of the year. Many times the winter's coldest temperatures arrive during the first week in February

Egg-Laying Already?

The horned owl is the biggest “eared” owl in the nation. It's 60-inch wing span makes it twice the size of a crow. It has large ear tufts and large marigold eyes. The owl is the earliest nesting bird in Wisconsin. They're most affectionate during the courting period, frequently roosting together in the same tree, sharing their “kills” and serenading each other with their resonant hoots.

Known as “flying tigers of the Northwoods,” horned owls capture their prey with their powerful feet and talons - skunks, rabbits, squirrels, porcupines, snakes and domestic cats. Persons wearing fur hats have been known to be attacked by the “flying tigers.”

Ravens Mating, Too

Ravens start mating in February. Their courtship flights can be spectacular. A mating pair frequently soars high in the air with the male slightly above the female. Now and then, a male will put on a display that would cause a human aerial acrobat to turn green with envy, sometimes dropping like a meteor for a few hundred feet or tumbling like a pigeon over and over again.

Nest Repair in Progress

Many of the local eagles return to their nests in late February. They generally arrive at the same nest and territory they occupied last year. Now and then they will build an alternative nest in their territory.

Eagle nests get larger and weigh more each year. A Vermillion, Ohio nest that was occupied for 35 years grew to be 12 feet deep and 8-1/2 feet wide. The nest, 85 feet up in a hickory tree, crashed to the ground during a storm. The massive stick nest weighed 4,000 pounds.

Nesting Cavities

In North America, about 85 of the 650 species of breeding birds use cavities for nesting or roosting. Nesting success is much more successful in cavities than in “open” nests. Nesting studies have shown that 60 to 80 percent of the cavity nests succeed in producing at least one fledgling compared to only 20 to 40 percent in successful open nests.

Cavity-nesting birds can extend the brood-rearing time of their nestlings to 16 to 22 days compared to a nesting period of just 11 days for the open nesters. The extended nesting period of the cavity nesters provides their nestlings with more time to become bigger, stronger and better able to fly.

Deer Survival

Along the ski trails, one can see where the deer have been pulling twigs off the small hardwood trees. Because deer lack front teeth in their upper jaw, they are unable to clip off twigs the way the snowshoe rabbits do with their razor-sharp front teeth. It is necessary for the deer to pull and tug for twigs, leaving rough frayed edges on the branches. To meet their energy requirements, whitetail deer require five pounds of browse daily. In severe winters, when they cannot move about and find food, deer depend on energy from their stored body fat.

A Miracle During Winter

A miracle is about to take place in the Northwoods during the middle of the year, the birth of bear cubs in a winter den, when snow, ice and sub-zero temperatures are the benchmarks of the season. When the cubs are born, they are hairless, almost blind and about the size of red squirrels. At the end of eight weeks when they leave the den, they may weigh as much as eight pounds.

After giving birth, the female resumes her deep sleep, waking on occasion to tend the cubs' needs. She licks the cubs to clean them and to stimulate defecation. She eats their feces and moves into position to facilitate nursing. The cubs do not go into hibernation. Instead they suckle and sleep snuggled warm against their mother's sparsely-furred underside. Ninety-nine percent of the cubs now in the den will emerge in the spring.

Saving Energy Lighting

- Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs. CFLs use approximately 1/4 of the energy an incandescent bulb uses to produce the same amount of light. Lighting constitutes approximately 12 percent of home energy consumption and produces just over one ton of CO2 each year.

- Look for Energy Star bulbs (most energy efficient and have been rigorously tested).

- Turn off lights, use natural light and/or install motion sensors.

Appliances

- Purchase appliances with the Energy Star label. Turn off and unplug appliances when not in use. Many appliances and electronic devices use energy even when not in use (e.g., radios, DVD players, computers, cell phone chargers).

- Use the energy saver cycle on your dishwasher and only run it when it is full.

- Air dry your clothes instead of using a dryer.

- Wash clothes in warm or cold water, not hot.

- Water heater: Decrease temperature to 120 degrees F. You'll save energy and avoid scalding your hands.

11th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count

The annual Audubon bird count is fast approaching.

Volunteers should plan to count birds for at least 15 minutes during Feb. 15-18. Count birds at as many places and on as many days as you like, just keep a separate list of counts for each day and/or location.

Anyone can count birds wherever they are and enter their tallies online at www.birdcount.org. These reports contribute valuable information for science and conservation, spotlighting changes in bird population and distribution from year to year.

The count is led by Audubon and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Participation is free and no registration is required.

Overall, bird watchers submitted a record-breaking 80,000 checklists during the four-day event in 2007. (from the New Richmond News, Jan. 24, 2008)

Ced Sez

Have you seen a robin here this month? Perhaps, it's one that has spent the winter here. Many people believe that seeing a robin is a sign of spring. However, robins are not harbingers of springtime. Birds such as crows and redwings return to the Northwoods before the robins. Groups of robins do not return to the Northwoods generally until the earthworms appear on the ground. If you have a wintering robin, it may eat raisins that are put out for it.

Little wonder that the chickadees come to the suet feeders when it is cold. There's more energy there. For a chickadee to crack open a sunflower seed, it may require more energy than it gets from the seed.

This is the week when you will begin to hear the downy woodpeckers drumming. They're not looking for insects. They're searching for a mate, possibly the one that they had last year.

The Rhinelander School District has extensive school forest lands. These forest lands are being managed. Are we depleting them? No. More wood is grown in Wisconsin each year than is harvested. Forest lands have increased 400,000 acres since 1983. Wisconsin forest lands cover 46 percent of the state and support 98 million live trees. (DNR and US Forest survey)

A calling expert says that a deer snort is not a danger call. It's an attention-getting sound. Deer possibly snort for three reasons; curiosity, danger and stress. Deer also grunt. Deer are said to communicate their feelings and needs by how they act. If you wish to try communicating with them, get a grunt call and a short-wheeze call.

Here's our thought for today: Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much. For the elderly: The years in your life are less important than the life in your years.

P.S. No, the woodchuck didn't see his shadow in our backyard. Regardless of his prediction, we have months of winter still ahead of us anyway.

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Comments »

Robert & Elizabeth Putnam wrote on Feb 15, 2008 9:47 AM:

" We think Cid Vignis one of the most knowledgeable people around,we enjoy reading his column in the Rhinelander Daily News here in Florida. Today it is in the 70's will send some of the warm weather up to you. My wife and I are formally Rhinelander Residents but we have been in Florida for many years, hope to come to the Northwoods this summer and enjoy the great weather. Hope to be there when you celebrate the 100th year for City Hall. Congrates to Richard Johns. "

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