Active winter ahead along with seals and foxes

Look for a large and active winter in the months ahead. The season officially begins with the winter solstice, Friday, Dec. 20, when days will start growing longer. That’s what I’m talking about!

But about the winter ahead, Tyler Roys, a meteorologist for Accuweather in State College, Pa., says this could be a winter that snow lovers might like, but snow haters? ”Maybe not.”

He said the first half of the season should be a continuation of the roller coaster ride we’ve been on recently. “I don’t think we’ll see the radical swings like one day in the 70s and the next day in the 20s, but I think we will be seeing bumps up followed by bumps down. The storm tracks we’re seeing right now are coming across the country, extending from the Southwest up to the Great Lakes, which should bring us above-normal temperatures on average and generally rainy weather. Those tracks will be followed by shots of cold air behind.”

In the second half of the winter, starting later in January, Roys sees the storm tracks transitioning to the Gulf of Mexico and then curving up to the mid-Atlantic. “That’s the track that could bring us storms, with colder temperatures about normal for that time of the year. Snowfall will be around normal with the chances of significant snowfall for your area coming later in January and into February.”

Generally, Roys said our weather should be on the wet side of things. “That will be good for the farmers, who should see a good amount of moisture in the soil when they get ready to plant.”

How about a white Christmas? Roys said we could see another shot of cold weather toward the end of December. “The timing on that next cold shot is uncertain. A minor snowfall is possible but the odds don’t support  it.”

Our biggest snowfalls – and blizzards – over the past 40 years have come in late January and early February. It sounds like that pattern will be holding sway for this winter. Keep an eye out for those late winter storms coming up the coast.

Fat seals; no tautog?

My outdoors buddy Ralph called up with an ice breakers seal report recently. The ice breakers – also known as the hay stacks – are the rock piles west of the outer wall originally designed to break up ice flows coming down Delaware Bay. Great sheets of ice piling up and being carried by the bay’s strong outgoing tides at one time could wreak havoc among wooden ships anchored in Breakwater Harbor.

Ralph has been fishing the stone walls and the ice breakers for decades. “I went out there recently with my grandson, and we fished hard for tautog about three hours and never got so much as a bite. Not even an oyster cracker. But what we did see was more big, fat seals than I’ve ever seen out there. When they came up out of the water, their heads looked as big across as a bushel basket. These weren’t the little seals we’ve seen in past years. These were at least 300-pounders.”

“Do you think they’re eating all the fish?” I asked.

“No bites – not even an oyster cracker? What do you think? They’re hanging out there for some reason.”

How about foxes?

A red fox has been hanging around our neighborhood across from the elementary school in Lewes recently. One morning I looked out my bedroom window and there he was, sharp-pointed ears and white-tipped tail, sauntering through the leaves in the back yard. He knew what he was doing. He stopped by the stone bird bath, eased up on his hind legs to put his paws on the edge of the bath, and lapped a long, lazy drink. Then he headed off through the trees into the neighbor’s yard.

He looked healthy enough; not scrawny, thin-haired and mangy, which puts me in mind of rabies.

Development keeps encroaching on their territory, and I know they need a place to live. I suspect they help keep the feral cat population in check, which comforts the two squirrel families living in our cherry tree condominium.

In Dewey Beach, an aggressive fox recently came out from under a car to attack a dog being walked by its owner. Mayor T.J. Redefer showed compassion for nature, and the fox problem, in an article about the incident. A news brief in the Cape Gazette reported:

“Redefer said the Town of Dewey Beach is working on an official policy regarding foxes, and with a vendor to track and identify problem animals in the community. Redefer said residents must keep in mind that wild animals of Dewey Beach were there first. ‘Our job is to live in their world safely,’ Redefer said.”

And the wolf shall lie down with the lamb.