The recent snowfall and freezing temperatures kept me close to home, but my concern for the wildlife had me busy with a few projects.

I ran the snow blower along the edge of the woods and it does a nice job in uncovering the grass and shoots for the deer and rabbits. I learned a long time ago that cutting browse and trimming fruit trees is a very beneficial source of food and cover for wildlife. My neighbor, Amber, had some guinea pigs that loved the tips of apple tree branches. I would clip a lunch bag full of trimmings for the critters whenever she needed them and they gobbled them up!

Clearing ground cover in freezing weather with heavy snowfall is very beneficial to all kinds of wildlife, from mammals to birds who can’t move the heavy snow. During the fall we have an abundance of oak and hickory trees dropping mast in our yard and driveway. Watching the squirrels cleaning them up gave us the idea to gather a few buckets-full for the winter months.

Along with a bushel or two of black walnuts, we had quite the supply of food sources for the dozen or so squirrels that called our back yard home. We supplemented the feeders with black oil sun flower seeds and some shelled corn for the birds and the other critters.

One problem was that it also attracted a hawk that came looking for a meal as well. Generally, the hawk picked off a blue jay or dove in his raids, but the squirrels and birds kept a watchful eye out for him. He wasn’t too successful with the squirrels as they stuck close to the shag bark hickory trees and would duck in for cover.

I did not see too many battles as the local crow family kept the raptors at bay. Crows are very intelligent and came to recognize us as no threat, but flew off at any other signs of human interaction. They have been our neighbors for many years now and they bring their offspring to the feeders annually.

We have seen some deer, but no turkeys in recent weeks, a doe and her two yearlings made it through the hunting season and are visiting our shrubs and bushes for their annual pruning. I will never have any luck with blueberry bushes as they have a preference for them. They do like some plantings much better than others; we have learned what to plant and what to shy away from over the years.

I will never plant tulips or fruit trees without a cage around them. Daffodils, daisies and irises are just fine and the deer will generally ignore them. Ground hogs present a whole new range of problems and they have a fondness for coneflowers and phlox. I leave an area to grow clover grasses for them and it usually works, but they do like to go exploring greener pastures!

The freezing weather is setting up the ice fishermen for a trip to the lakes. Zero-degree weather will get the ice pretty hard. Remember the safety on ice begins at 4 inches for one angler and for safety needs to be 6-7 inches for groups of people. Ice that thick will support 1,500 pounds of weight.

My friend, Ken, who is in his 80s, loves to ice fish and he heads out to Lake Arthur whenever he can. He will need to find our buddy Ron Hasychak for this adventure because I don’t do ice. It makes me anxious and I don’t need more equipment that will be under-used.

Some other buddies love to head up to Erie and fish the tributaries for steelhead trout that are making their spawning runs from the lake back up into the streams and creeks each winter. Catching them is not always easy, but the reward for landing a lake-run steelhead is usually a trophy rainbow trout in the 20+ inch range. My personal best is around 27 inches and that is quite a hefty fish.

Another alternative is to go for yellow perch in Presque Isle Bay on Lake Erie. You may be fishing open water or on ice and the fishing opportunities are excellent for many species of fish including walleye, trout, burbot and panfish. Smelt can also be caught using tiny gold hooks or micro jigs and they are either plentiful or they are not around.

Recommended areas for safe ice fishing include Misery Bay, Horseshoe Pond and Marina Lake.

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle