Is fall/winter coming early this year?  Even with the warmer days we have been having the sun is going down earlier, many may be thinking we are not even close to having cooler weather, but I don’t agree. I’m not a meteorologist but I have observed a few things that tell me, yes, much colder days are coming sooner than people think. First of all, I had to rake leaves (twice) already and it’s only the 2nd week of September. So, there is a FAIR chance the trees are telling us something. Some may argue, they haven’t seen the incredible fall colors yet. Will some tree’s shed leaves sooner than other tree’s? I’m not an arborist, so I will give you that one.

My second reason I don’t believe anyone can argue with this fact. Our white tail deer are in the process if not already done molting. I totally understand that deer start to change color late summer into fall, but I’ve seen this natural event beginning in early August and I will tell you, animals know more about future weather than the farmer’s almanac can predict. White tail deer pelage (coats change) or better known as molting twice a year and come fall, the changing of this hair is critical for winter survival.

Due to hormonal change, late August and into September, deer start to shed their reddish thin coat of hair that has reflected the sun and kept them cool all summer and grow new hair that is a grayish or darker brown hair that will absorb the suns heat and help keep them warm in the winter. This new coat that has replaced their thin one layer of hair, with two new layers  to protected them this winter. One layer is the undercoat that is soft but very dense hair that gives them insulation, and the second outer coat (guard hair) can be two inches long, hollow and is thick. The combination of this type of topcoat along with the dense undercoat gives them a better chance to survive the coldest temperatures and their darker color also camouflages them.

Getting back to why I believe winter will come early. When white tail deer start molting, this process (turning grayish) begins on their face, moving down their neck and back, then to their chest area, sides and finally their legs and this transition process typically takes 2 to 3 weeks. So, why do I believe winter will be early? If I had seen the molting process in the last week of August, I wouldn’t be writing about this, but I have seen (TRUST ME, CLOSE UP) their faces started molting the beginning of the second week of August. Our fury friend’s and even fish know when the weather changes. So, if you don’t believe me, are the deer telling me something?