Deer, Woodpeckers, and Mouse.

When I drove up to Dickey Ridge the other afternoon, that was as far as Skyline Drive was open because there was ice covering the road at higher elevations. There were other people there even though it was cold. If you look closely at the second picture, there are some people walking front of the forest in the center of the picture. The deer is not concerned because tourists are constantly walking there to see the view. 

I'd Rather Be Birdin' / Saturday's Critters.

 

The bird hanging from the feeder is a downy woodpecker, our smallest woodpecker. It's one of the bolder birds in my yard and sometimes continues to eat when I go out the back door. Every other bird flies away except the geese, who think there's a possibility I'm going to feed them. 

This larger woodpecker is a red-bellied woodpecker. 

Today's final creature is a mouse. He's partly in shadow but I only had a moment between the time I released him from a box and the moment he scampered away. 

This little guy has been keeping me awake at night, scratching around in my bedroom. I have traps all over the place, plus an electronic pest repeller that does not seem to bother these critters. This morning he entered a Mouse Cube around 5 AM and started tapping the plastic door trying to get out. It is hinged in one direction so he was trapped. I got up and put the trap, which is a little plastic box, in a shoebox which I then placed in the laundry room. Unfortunately I could still hear it so I didn’t get much sleep.

The problem with these “humane” traps is that mice usually enter them in the small hours of the morning, usually at 1 AM or later, and often in terrible weather when it isn't very humane to release them outdoors. I use them because mice are surprisingly smart and often avoid the snap traps. I’ve caught more mice in this type of box than any other trap. But you have to release the mouse far enough away from your house so it will not find its way back. The recommended distance is at least one mile but that’s not always practical. Also you have to avoid any location close to someone else’s house.

 
I stayed in bed until 10 AM, having had very little sleep. As soon as the temperature rose to almost the freezing point, I put on warm clothes and went out to release him. At first he did not want to get out of the box and he was shivering. I don’t blame him. Not only was it cold, but the chances are very high that he will get eaten by a cat or owl.

I had my cell phone so I got his picture. I hope he doesn't find his way back to the house.