Winter in Hocking Hills

Winter in Hocking Hills is beautiful but makes life difficult on the wildlife here. Tending to the wildlife is essential at this time of year. In addition to birds, the deer herds must be fed. More than 1,500 pounds of corn and many bails of oats are used to feed the deer herds throughout the winter. A few of the herds bed down in the pine grove just feet from our back windows and within feet of one of the feeding sites. It's common to go through many hundreds of pounds of bird seed during the winter.
Keeping the snow out of the bird feeders is an added chore during the winter months as is providing a water supply. For water a commercial heater system on an elevate platform is used to keep the water from freezing. Providing water during the winter is one of the most important things to do here at the Pines. Energy levels are difficult for the birds to maintain and vital energy is expended to travel to water supplies and back. At the Pines there is also running water from the run off trenches which run most of the winter.

Nest boxes are used as roosts during the winter.