Into the Woods with Curio: Deer In Winter

“It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the
heights.” Psalm 18:32 & 33

Which animal hibernates during the winter, but still walks around every day?
Not a groundhog. They sleep all winter, except on Groundhog’s day.
Not a skunk. They sleep most of the time during the winter.
So do most raccoons, (unless they live in Toronto).
Chipmunks sleep most of the winter, though sometimes get up for a snack.
And bears sleep all winter, too.
Have you guessed? It’s a deer!

Deer are awake every day in the wintertime, but they are also hibernating! They do a ‘walking’ hibernation because they can’t find the grasses and other green plants that they normally eat during the rest of the year.

To help them survive the winter deer grow a layer of fat in the fall by eating acorns and beech nuts. That layer of fat helps them when there is not much to eat during the long winter.

They also grow a coat of long hair. This hair is hollow inside, and much thicker than normal hair, so it keeps the deer warm, even when it is really cold and windy.

They still eat during the winter, browsing on cedars, and the twigs and buds of young trees and shrubs, such as sumacs. They may visit a backyard bird feeder and eat the seeds that spill onto the ground.

The female deer, called does, are especially hungry because they are pregnant, usually with twins. And their fawns from last spring may still be with them, though they are almost fully grown, and can find food for themselves.

Because deer are unguligrade, that is, are hooved and walk on the tips their hooves, they cannot move about as easily in deep snow. When the snow gets deep, as it has this winter, the deer make ‘yards’. These are a series of paths, usually located in a group of cedar or hemlock trees for shelter, or in a swamp near a river or lake so they have water, and shrubs and young trees to browse. They stay in these ‘yards’ to save their energy. But living in such a restricted space makes it easier for predators, such as wolves, to find them. And, if the snow is really deep it’s hard for the deer to escape.

Winter is hard for deer, but a ‘walking hibernation’ helps them survive until spring comes, when there are grasses and other green plants for them to eat!

Monk's Musings: To be Loved and to Love

My lover is mine, and I am his… I am my lover’s and my lover is mine…
I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me… Song of Songs 2:16, 6:3, 7:10

February is the month in which many couples celebrate their love on Valentine’s day. It’s an ancient tradition, and like all traditions it can be enjoyed appropriately or abused. Whether we commemorate it or not, the Bible does have quite a lot to say about human love and attraction. The Song of Songs is an entire book of the Old Testament dedicated to exploring the love between man and woman. In the three verses above, the Beloved rejoices in the exclusive relationship she has with her Lover. Marriage between one man and one woman, joined until death, is the ideal that Jesus taught his disciples. Those of us who are married are called to live out the responsibility and privilege of loving our spouse with faithfulness and sacrificial love, putting the other ahead of our own desires.

The prophets in the Old Testament also likened marriage to the covenant relationship between God and his People. And in the New Testament, Paul says that marriage is a shadow of the relationship between Jesus Christ and his Church. So each one of us who are disciples of Christ, whether married or single, can apply the verses above to our relationship with the Lord Jesus. We can claim Him as our own, and rejoice in the fact that we belong to Him. We can rest confidently knowing that He desires us, and nothing, neither death nor life, nor “anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rom 8:38-39.

May the Lord help us to grow in understanding more of his love, and to respond with our own love in return. Not a sentimental temporary infatuation, but a lasting love that shows itself by our committed deeds and life decisions that honour Him. Neither does He want from us a slavish grim obedience that acts out of cold duty, but the willing and joyful service of a Bride that is in love with her Husband and rejoices to give herself fully to the One who gave himself on the cross for her! May God help us so to love and so to live this month!

On behalf of all the Beacon Staff,
Andrew ‘Monk’ Nunn