Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss SNOW!

When I was attending college at Indiana University in southern Indiana, that winter northern Indiana got clobbered by several snowstorms several weekends in a row like clockwork. The snow had really piled up. Problem was it all melted at one time right before Spring Break causing some historical flooding in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Anyway, I remember getting into the elevator at Eigenmann Hall where I was staying, and seeing a note by someone seeking a ride to Ft. Wayne for Spring Break. Someone crossed out the Ft. Wayne and changed it to Flood Wayne.

Here we go again.....

Oh to have a big diesel pickup and plow and charge "cash only."

They just upped the snowfall for tomorrow into Wednesday in my area to 10"-20" with 50 mph winds... I am starting to feel like I live in Buffalo, NY!

As Travis said above -- more snow. We finally dug out by 7:00 PM last night. I had to finish up with just my loader bucket. I irreparably broke my rear blade into two pieces yesterday afternoon. Started calling to find a new one -- they were kind of like hen's teeth. But, I did finally find a Woods RB72 by phone last night, which we had to pick up no later than 7:30 this morning. I was almost out of diesel fuel last night, and went looking for some of it, too. None last night, but one of the local stations got a load this morning. I lost my wallet and was in quite a panic. I was sure it was under 10 feet of snow somewhere in the driveway. Thankfully, it was the solution to another problem I thought I had. When I locked the differential with the foot pedal last night, the pedal didn't want to release. This morning I found my wallet lodged behind the pedal.

Ken, looks like the numbers they were calling for before may not materialize... We'll see when all is said and done how things turn out. I know my ride home from training at 9 this evening was no fun. Some guy in a Jeep passed me doing 65 with 2" of snow on the interstate while I was doing 30 and biting my nails. A mile up the road I watched him lose it, hit a guard rail spin across all 3 lanes and slam into a snow bank in the median strip. I honked as I went by as he was getting out of his Jeep looking very angry and realizing what an idiot he was... Sometimes people just need to slow down! 4wd get's you going, but sure don't keep you going straight or gets you stopped!

I had 5"-6" new snow in the drive when I got home right before dark, and the weather said another 6" of system snow tonight, then the lake effect will kick in.

My cousin sent some pics of the ice that they had. The way all the trees are broke, it looks like a small tornado went thru there. They're supposed to get some of that storm that's headed East as well. He just finished the landscaping around the house this Fall. The ice tipped over a 7' Holly plant and ripped the roots right out of the ground, and broke a lot of limbs in a Japanese Maple.

The snow quit for a couple of hours this morning, but the lake effect kicked in around 7 a.m. I just got back in from clearing some snow from around the house. The street hasn't seen a plow truck since 9 last night, and they are calling for 20+ mph winds later on today. Supposedly the 3.8 earthquake that they had 50 miles west-northwest of downtown Chicago this morning was felt as far away as 10 miles NE of here, but you couldn't prove it my me!

I had someone pass me in freezing rain once. Some of these idiots thing they are invincible when they have 4 wheel drive. Morons!

My mother-in-law who lives just east of Chicago in Hammond says she didn't feel anything either.

CJ and others,

As I have a degree in fisheries and not wildlife biology how long will it take until the whitetails in the east coast areas hit by the mega snow go into starvation mode?

I will say that the deer I put in the freezer in December was well prepared. It has the longest hair, and the most fat of any deer I think I've ever butchered.

With that said, the deer are definitely not moving around very much. I've spent a lot of time on the tractor in the past few days, and none of their trails have been used since about Friday. Around here, I think they should have adequate browse, even though it may not be real nutritious. Also, we have a lot of beef and horse farms around here. My guess is that they will be mooching the hay put out for their larger hoofed cousins.

It all depends on the habitat they live in... If they live in an area with a lot of recent logging, they will probably be OK. But southern deer don't go to yards like northern deer do. So this heavy snow for extended periods of time has to be much harder on them, that is for sure. I think there will be some dead deer this winter. Deer are darn tough though... Fortunately in my area there was a great acorn crop this year which should have packed on the fat for the deer. I will be heading to my land in PA when the snow melts back a bit to cut a bunch of trees so the deer can eat their tops. That will help them out a lot.

The deer can deal with a lot of snow, pawing thru it to eat. What they have a very difficult time with is ice. Hard to walk on, when they break thru it might cut their legs, and if it's thick enough, it will cover all their food sources up. 2 or 3 years ago in southern Wi., there were two ice storms a week or so apart, and that really decimated the deer herd. One farmer had 20 ac of corn left in the field, and while he didn't have any corn left to harvest, the deer in that area didn't die of starvation. There were deer dying in peoples driveways, looking for food.

There was a good mast crop here as well, and the areas near Oak trees almost look like hogs went thru, the deer are really turning over every leaf looking for acorns. I normally spread out some corn this time of the year to help them thru the hard months, 50# will be gone in < week. The squirrels probably eat almost as much as the deer.

I watched 7 deer walk down a residential road that had been partially plowed last night. They then proceeded to following a shoveled driveway to a shoveled sidewalk where I watch them browse on that house's shrubs for the next 30 minutes. I am sure that homeowner was thrilled this morning when he found his shrubs half gone.

Even Texas is getting in on the action..in a small way! 3" so far

Whatever you do -- don't send that darn stuff this way!

Come on, Ken - could you even notice another 3"?

3" more snow might cause some folks to snap around here (like poor catmandoo).

I'm worried about my pond with all the snow cover.

This sucks.

I'm glad mine had 4-5 days completely thawed before freezing over again. Let's me think they got recharged withO2 and can handle another month covered up.

Don't worry Sunil, I'm sure your bullheads will be fine!

I feel better now, Yolk.

Thanks.

I can help with that, what's your cell phone number?

Cat and Sunil, I'll give you a little tip on keeping your sanity.

Don't look at the weather forecast for Monday and Tuesday.....

Sanity! Ha! I had my lobotomy in 1973.

As for the sanity of others, I wish I could find the photo of Sunil as a tour director, crouching in front of the windshield bullet hole, with JHAP and JWHAP protecting my wife and me.