"I feel rather full right now and don't want to be bothered"

Those were the words I imagined coming from the doe reclining alongside the remote road we were traveling in quiet Waushara County.  The nonchalant lady was being shepherded by a yearling who, although  being somewhat disturbed by our intrusion, had no intention of leaving his mom or, for that matter his soon to be born siblings.  Although he was unaware, it was apparent from the doe's dimensions that she would be delivering in a matter of weeks.

This mother and her year old offspring appeared healthy and well nourished, as did the hundreds of other whitetails we observed off the road on a recent weekend.  The snows were deep in the woods, but unlike the topsy turvy winter and spring of last year, the weather did not seem to adversely affect the health of the wildlife community.  Our observation of various species, including deer, coyote, raccoon  possum and multiple more frequently observed furry friends seemed to bear out that all are doing quite well.

All we need now is for Mr. Spring to melt the three foot deep snow in the woods so we can visit our coniferous and deciduous friends to see how they coped with Mr. Winter.