The Browse Line

The rain let up around noon, and feeling squirrelly from being inside too long, I set out to photograph a little wildlife.

I found a small herd of six deer in a flood plain, and this single deer off on his own in a thicket of small trees.

I know this creek-side patch pretty well, and while there is verdant grass and forage in spring and summer, these small trees appear to be particularly tasty as evinced from the clear browse lind

 A browse line is a common phenomenon in eastern North American forests where the presence of large numbers of deer creates creates a sheer line in the edible foliage from about 3 or 4 feet feet down to the ground.

While spring rain has resulted in an abundance of grass and other forbes in this stream-side field, in winter it is quite bare of food sources despite the large number of deer that call this small pocket of creek-side woods home.