We've got some coyotes around but also have red and grey foxes. The hill across the road from us has a nesting pair of great horned owls and we've got a nesting pair of American kestrels in one barn. Add in the screech owls, red tailed hawks, some great blue herons and a nearby pair of bald eagles and there are no shortages of predators around.
The traps have really kept the groundhogs in check which is especially good this year since we are all in soybeans and the darn critters can put a whooping on beans.
The groundhogs I've seen out have been mostly within a few hours of sunset.
We've got a lot of deer around because the last two winters were not very rough for the deer. They were rough on the turkeys, though. The really wet spring seems to have caused a lot of nest and young poult mortality. There are still some toms strutting for hens so either they didn't get bred earlier of they lost their broods.
Our woods were very wet due to the near all time record wet spring here and we are finally seeing and hearing turkeys on the farm just this last couple of weeks.
BTW, the DEC's proposed new 5 year plan for managing white tail deer is out and is available to read or download on their website. If you own land or hunt in NY it is worth looking through. The 45 day public comment period is open until about July 25-26. There are a number of changes proposed and some are pretty big ones.
Also, the bear season in the Catskills was change so that the deer and bear seasons are now the same day.
Lance
