I “pestered” my late father to take me hunting with him when I was probably 7 or 8 years old. At about age 10, I accompanied him on a warmer Saturday afternoon hunt and I can still picture that first doe that walked by. I still hunt today, I still enjoy seeing them in their safe haunts, I still find it a challenge, BUT I now use this time more for watching other things. What follows is a synopsis of a 10½-hour outing in the Carbon County woodlands on a cold, snow-covered day.

I arrive at my hunting stool (used the same stool since 1965) at about the time I can turn off the flashlight. On my slow walk in, already I am aware that a pair of great horned owls are “serenading” each other with their hooting, cementing their pair bond already established. (They will be nesting in about six weeks.) I now sit quietly to watch the forest around me. This year a 1½-inch snow and ice cover is on the ground and it helps me detect any movement.

As it gets lighter, a red squirrel starts chattering while sitting on a broken hemlock limb behind me. I guess he didn’t like the big blaze-orange object sitting in his “territory.” The chatter eventually stops and I see him scooting between trees for the next 30 minutes looking for some morsels.

Later, in front of me, a lone gray squirrel takes a few hops, digs into the snow, and with his front feet holds (an acorn?) which he buried in September or October. He repeats this process more than a half dozen times. Suddenly the chatter of the red squirrel is in front of me and the chase is on.

The “red” doesn’t like “grays” invading his territory. The “gray” sprints to a chestnut oak with the “red” 2 feet behind. They circle and climb the trunk a few times when the chased jumps to a snow-covered log, runs 15 feet and jumps onto another oak. Another four or five revolutions with the “red” close on its heels.

The “gray” again jumps onto the log and sprints just feet ahead of the chaser. They both disappear into distance and all is quiet for about 10 minutes. Eventually the red squirrel hustles back to a stump and chatters “cockily,” I guess advertising his successful eviction.

An hour later a very quiet twittering is heard near my feet. A short-tailed shrew pokes his head above the snow, only for an instant, and disappears again. I’m sure you could only hear its twittering if you were indeed quiet and within a few feet of it. He/she reappeared many more times this day.

A number of times a little dark spot sprinted across a snow patch between a stump and some club mosses. It was one of the red-backed voles that feed fox, coyotes and owls throughout the tough winter. They are rather plentiful, but unless you find a seat and remain quiet, you would have missed them. Meanwhile, in the hemlocks near me, tiny golden-crowned kinglets hover underneath the needles, picking tiny unseen insects or spiders. How do these tiny birds stay warm and find enough food?

Much bigger, a pileated woodpecker kept me company on and off during the cold day. Sometimes his cackling alerted me or his deep, characteristic hammering told me where he was feeding. Apparently, he likes these woods. Many stumps and tree trunks show his latest workings.

Above me, I heard two flocks of Canada geese still heading to warmer areas and then a noisy flock of snow geese flew overhead, probably close to finding the Lehigh County farmlands about 10 miles to the south.

I never did see any deer, but I had plenty of wildlife company. I guess I could have spent the day at home watching weather forecasts, a variety of talk shows or maybe a reality TV show. Reality TV! What could have been more real than observing and relaxing sitting in a cold “Penn’s Woods?” My only regret is that I wish I could get back that circulation that kept me warmer when I was much younger.

And remember, I wasn’t stressed trying to find the missing TV remote a couple times a day. Reality TV, who needs it? Get out there and sit awhile watching nature shows that cost you little and offer unique memories.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: Which of these spruce species is native to Pennsylvania? A. Norway spruce, B. blue spruce, C. black spruce, D. Sitka spruce E. none of these.

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: Barn owls, often nesting in barns or abandoned buildings, may nest eight or nine different months of the year.

Contact Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com.