Wild Creatures of Winter
Midwestern farm children in the early 1900s had daily opportunities to view the activities of nature as they played outside, did chores twice a day and walked down the road to and from their one-room country schools.
Wintertime on the farm, with its lack of vegetation and frequent snow, made it easier to observe the wild creatures that lived in the nearby countryside.
Among the most frequently seen birds and wildlife in the cold winter months were the red-tailed hawk and the red fox.
Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
A lesson in patience and endurance came from watching the solitary red-tailed hawk as it perched on bare tree branches or wooden fence posts, scanning the area for potential prey. Not all of the hawks had migrated to southern areas for the winter.
The broad-winged raptors hunted during the hours of daylight, utilizing their superb eyesight, powerful wings, sharp talons and curved beaks to survive. Small mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and insects were a part their diet, depending on the season.
With just a few flaps of their wings, red-tailed hawks could soar in splendor over the farmyard and empty fields. A hawk’s body could be in excess of 20 inches with a wingspan between three and four feet.
A pair of red-tailed hawks could raise a brood of several young each year, in a platform nest of sticks that they had built. Both male and female hawks incubated the eggs and fed the hatchings.
Adult red-tailed hawks could be identified by their solid color tail feathers. The birds’ white undersides were distinguished by a belly band of dark feathers.
Young red-tails displayed a more streaked appearance and lacked the solid color tail. The different colors of hawks’ feathers could range from a brick and white appearance to variations of buff, brown and black.
The red-tailed hawk rarely took poultry, but it was an important farm responsibility to keep the chickens and chicks safe and out of reach.
Red fox (Vulpes vulpes)
The first sign of a red fox on the farm in winter might often be its straight tracks in the fresh snow. With a reddish coat and long bushy tail, the fox stood out in the barren landscape.
Red foxes roamed over the fields and occasionally came right through the farmyard, but they preferred the edges of a tree line or an area near creek banks.
A fox den could be among exposed tree roots along a creek, in an enlarged, abandoned burrow of another animal, beneath a rock pile or in an area of fallen timber.
Usually four to six fox kits were born in the den during the spring and remained within the family group through the summer and into the fall, before going out on their own. Both adults fed regurgitated food to the kits as they grew.
Active at night, as well as a hunter at dusk and dawn, the red fox relied on a varied diet, according to the season.
This could include small mammals, birds, reptiles, turtle eggs, wild fruits, nuts, carrion and even corn. Particularly in winter, the red fox was known to store uneaten food in underbrush for later use.
An average red fox weighed about 10 pounds, stood 15 inches high at the shoulder, and had the ability to cover over 10 feet in a single leap.
A hunter of opportunity, the red fox was one of the reasons why the farm poultry was safely tucked up in the chicken house each night.
