What melting snow reveals

A winter landscape in the Midwest may appear to be bleak and barren, but in fact a lot of activity goes on underneath the snowdrifts. Protected from the winter winds and bitter cold, small mammals can remain active even in the dead of winter.

We have two birdfeeders (mixed grains and thistle) and a couple feeders for squirrels and perching birds on our balcony. Throughout the winter a lot of seed falls to the ground. Now in early March, as warming temps melt the drifts, the trails left by the *-vores are apparent. There is a whole network of interlacing paths, some of which then connect to paths leading to/from the woods.

* Can't remember the word for "seed-eaters." Not "fructivores" - those are fruit-eaters. Something similar...