Not sure how many of you guys deal with this, but for us in southwest ohio it's a huge factor that could really start impacting shed hunting. About 20 years ago Bush Honeysuckle started spreading throughout all our forests and have by far become the dominant understory species on most properties. It originally came from Asia on a barge that unloaded in Cincinnati.
So dealing with Bush Honeysuckle isn't really a new problem. What I have noticed the past several years though is the disturbing trend of the honeysuckle budding out and turning green earlier every single year. The last few years, it was almost impossible for me to spot a shed much later than the third week of March due to the Honeysuckle being leafed out. Already this year, I have noticed some buds opening and it's not even march. A few warm days in a row and they will turn into little green leaves.
I'm not a huge global warming activist or anything, but I'm also not blind or oblivious to what is going on around me in the natural world. I can see the line between winter and spring being blurred more and more every year. Guys who ice fish will be able to vouch for this as well. This is without a doubt becoming an issue for us shed hunters, as many of our deer don't shed until well into March once things are greening. Things never use to be this green in February or March, at least not in any of our lifetimes. Not finding sheds though is a very small issue to what it could mean to our environment and natural systems as a whole into the future.
So dealing with Bush Honeysuckle isn't really a new problem. What I have noticed the past several years though is the disturbing trend of the honeysuckle budding out and turning green earlier every single year. The last few years, it was almost impossible for me to spot a shed much later than the third week of March due to the Honeysuckle being leafed out. Already this year, I have noticed some buds opening and it's not even march. A few warm days in a row and they will turn into little green leaves.
I'm not a huge global warming activist or anything, but I'm also not blind or oblivious to what is going on around me in the natural world. I can see the line between winter and spring being blurred more and more every year. Guys who ice fish will be able to vouch for this as well. This is without a doubt becoming an issue for us shed hunters, as many of our deer don't shed until well into March once things are greening. Things never use to be this green in February or March, at least not in any of our lifetimes. Not finding sheds though is a very small issue to what it could mean to our environment and natural systems as a whole into the future.
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