A few days ago I took advantage of the lasting good weather and went to the park to do a short hike.  Rock Cut touts itself as the largest state park in Illinois, and they must be right, because I’ve been going there to hike for about 7 years now and just last week found a new section of the park.  It was very cool as it appeared to contain an abandoned entrance and camping/picnic area complete with stone shelter house.

While I was wandering around on the new (at least to me) paths I came upon a young buck.  I must have been down wind, because he didn’t notice me until I was right on him, like maybe 3 feet away.  And we both froze.  I was wondering if he could gore me with his one and half  little antlers.  I don’t know what he was wondering, but we both just stood there staring at each other for a minute or so, and then I asked him, very politely if he wouldn’t mind moving so that I could go past.  And he did.  He moved off the trail a little ways but was still watching me. I don’t know, maybe he was in love.

Then a few days later I was jogging on the local bike path called the Stone Bridge Path when I noticed some birds nests that were filled with milk weed thistle.  So I stopped to take a closer look.  I was thinking perhaps that birds fill the nests before they go south in order to keep them intact for the winter.  So I poked my finger around in one and encountered something warm and soft but solid and alive.  My first thought was that’s weird, I didn’t know birds hibernate.  But when I pushed back the milk weed it turned out to be three hibernating mice.  Cool.  Although you would think I would have know that with all the years I spent as a Ranger Rick Club member.