I Need Spring Pretty Soon

I need to go for a drive in the country and see a moose standing in an abandoned farm yard.

I need to see a White-tailed Deer doe burst out of a grassy ditch and race across a field - and when I drive slowly by the place she had been, catch a glimpse of her new-born fawn.

I need to see a beaver grooming itself on a creek bank.

I need to look out my window and see a little Eastern Cottontail eating up bird seed.

I need to see a Painted Turtle crossing a walking path.

Winter is sapping my soul.

A Couple of Moose

I saw some Moose (Alces alces) again yesterday.  I didn't get a photo, however, here are some I took last November of two bulls ambling across a stubble field.

The Kaufman Field Guide says:

This magnificent member of the deer family...is common in forests, meadows, and tundra of the north.

So, what exactly is going on here?  There are a lot of moose in this area now (farm land, originally short grass prairie).  There weren't any when I was a kid growing up on a farm, nearly a hundred years ago now, I suppose - oh wait, that's just how old I FEEL today.

The guide goes on to say:

...the Moose consumes up to 45 lbs. of forage per day, or about eight tons a year.  Favoured foods include willow and aspen leaves and many aquatic plants in summer, twigs and woody stems of various plants in winter.

Tracks - The moose track is slightly larger and more pointed than that of the elk and similar in shape to a deer's but twice as large. The track may be blunted if the ground is rocky and hard, making it more difficult to distinguish from the elks. A typical print is of two pointed pear shapes with the tips closer than the wider bottom.  (from bcadventure.com)