Oh deer

Ya gotta feel sorry for the critters outside when it gets brutally cold like it's been what seems like for weeks now. Another night below zero but it looks like we're finally going to get a "warming" trend. Just in the news yesterday was a very sad story of a dog owner in Hancock that left it's dog outside all night and day and it froze to the ground from it's own body heat. I don't know the exact details of this story, only what was reported in the news. The dog was rescued(a malamute)but as of last report is still not able to stand up and had frozen skin. I certainly hope this dog goes to a home that can care for it properly the rest of it's life, I understand it's 14 years old.
Out at Presque Isle, the "wild" deer are becoming increasingly tame. You know what this means. People are feeling sorry for these animals, probably due to the snow cover and extreme cold, and they are feeding the deer. There's bird seed sprinkled everywhere and an occasional carrot or apple seen here and there. I feel sorry for the deer too, but this is not a good thing as you know what the city is going to do come Spring. Funny, the city has their occasional "deer culling" every few years or so in the name of preventing overgrazing by the deer and guess what? Same old cycle repeats itself.
It's natural for the deer to yard up in the winter, and Presque Isle is ideal for the deer as they can move to different sides of the island to be sheltered from the wind. When Spring comes, they move on, but this feeding I'm afraid is going to be bad news for these deer down the line.

Deer and fawn, Presque Isle winter of 2008-09, showing signs of an encounter with a predator