Winter is a harsh time of year for all wildlife on Prince Edward Island. In early succession mixed timber woodlots the ruffed grouse thrives. But winter is a difficult period even for grouse. Compared to other gamebirds like pheasants and Hungarian partridge, the ruffed grouse is much more adept at surviving the winter. In the woodlot located behind the Riverdale Boy Scout camp I was able to find much grouse sign indicating they are persisting in that area. The ruffed grouse is extremely adapted to our climate. During winter he takes on an odd but very effective behavior. He will dive into the deep powdery snow and bury himself allowing the snow to insulate him. I consider this a very smart adaptation for survival. However I assume many are killed by foxes and coyote that manage to ambush them while still buried in the snow and even more are probably killed if freezing rain traps the birds under the snow pact. Our other gamebirds pheasants and partridge will do nothing like this to survive the winter. They simply rely on the cover of vegetation to keep them warm. The grouse has the edge here on the island definity. I remember seeing the spot where the grouse arose from his wintery roost. There were droppings all around where he buried himself. I did not feel emotional about this. It was definitely cool to see the grouse’s roost but it did not stir up feelings of love or anything like that. All I can say to that bird is hopefully he survives until spring and is able to breed and perpetuate his kind. Chances are though he probably wont make it to spring. He shouldn’t starve to death though. The area where we saw the grouse sign and tracks was full of spruce and aspen trees. The grouse will eat the buds of the aspen and the needles of the spruce to sustain himself to spring. There was also a good layer of balsam fir on the forest floor which would provide him with some cover from predators. But there were fox and coyote tracks in this woodlot and likely one will get him. This is just a fact of life. The grouse will die so something else can live. I wonder what part of the grouse cycle we are at. My guess would be the middle but I’m just guessing. Hopefully this one grouse we found will make it to spring and entertain some boy scouts as he drums on a log to attract himself a mate. Hopefully he holds tight for some enterprising upland hunter’s bird dog. And hopefully he sires a good clutch of young that grow up to help raise the population. I guess you could say I have a fondness for grouse. They are also delicious.

Down at Strathgartney Provincial Park in a stand of beech I was able to come across fox tracks. The sly fox has no trouble surviving in a provincial park in winter. First of all he’s safe from hunters and trappers. That really puts the odds in his favor. Second this woodlot was full of sign of voles and deer mice. Lots of food. Unfortunately we were not able to find a spot where he punched through the snow to catch a rodent. I will admit that the fox is probably a perfect killing machine. Every part of his body has been designed by nature to make him an efficient predator. Ears and nose that can detect the smallest movement under the snow allow him to pinpoint a rodents location with ease. It would have been very cool to see a fox hunting. But we did not get to see one. I personally don’t have a love or hatred for foxes. I see them as any other animal. Foxes are just another animal that we have the right to use and manage. Seeing a fox does not warm my heart although hearing them scream at night creeps the hell out of me. Hopefully this fox doesn’t take too big a toll on the local grouse population. But I’ll give this fox props. In the same woodlot I found coyote tracks. Any fox that will share a territory with a pack of coyotes has got to have sand. Seeing as coyotes routinely kill or drive foxes. I noticed a sharp difference between the coyote and fox tracks. They did both walk in a straight line with one foot in front of the other but the coyotes tracks were larger and it was evident that his stride was longer than the fox. Either or could have been just passing through the area so its hard to say for sure if they are inhabiting the area. Because the park sees visitors in the summer I can’t see a coyote pack living there. Foxes are much more likely. I’ve found their dens not 200ft from people’s houses. But I will admit a red fox in his winter coat is a handsome animal and many people do like to see them around. Hopefully this fella I tracked makes it to spring and finds himself a mate and raises a passel of kits to ensure there will always be foxes in bonshaw.