Earlier in the winter, I noticed we had some visitors. Five beautiful male pheasants were meandering around our property. With a colorful, intricate plumage, these birds intrigue me. Surviving the pheasant hunting season, they seem to have no definite home nor means to feed themselves.
“Do you think they’ll be OK?” I asked my husband one day.
I wasn’t certain, and if we could do anything about it, I’d sure feel better.
“I’ll pick up a bag of corn,” he replied without delay.
Evidently, he felt for them, too.
Soon we had a 50-pound bag of cracked corn in my laundry room. We didn’t want to store it anywhere in our sheds as varmints might find it.
Every day, I’d scoop up a container full of corn and sometimes even more than one. Pondering where to put it, I had played detective — sort of stalking out where they congregated. Pouring the corn in a place I thought would work, I patiently waited.
Lo and behold, other feathered friends found the spot before my pheasants.
Presently, we had blue jays, blackbirds, vibrant red cardinals, chickadees, sparrows and woodpeckers visiting. We’ve even noticed a few meandering wild turkeys close by and a couple of black crows big enough to cart me away have skirted around the offering. The little corn pile is close enough to the house to get a good look at them all, yet far enough away to make them feel comfortable.
“We’ve done it,” I proclaimed to my husband. “We’ve officially crossed the line. We’re now bird watchers.”
With all the variety we’ve got visiting, I still am especially fond of the pheasants. They’ve become round and healthy-looking. We noticed they’d housed overnight one night in the red maple tree just off our driveway, spotting them coming down out of their roost early a bit after daylight, making their way to breakfast.
Curious as to just how “my pheasants” (I’ve become possessive) got to our farm, I looked up pheasants in Wisconsin and it took me to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources website.
It stated, “The Wisconsin DNR plans to stock approximately 75,000 pheasants from the state game farm on over 80 properties statewide. Depending on production levels, pheasants are released once prior to the pheasant hunting season and then twice a week for the first two to three weeks of the season. After that, birds are released about once a week until the nine-day gun deer season.”
So that’s why I am seeing these birds about our property. I was happy they’d lived through pheasant hunting season until I read further on the Wisconsin DNR website.
“The DNR will stock approximately 3,000 more pheasants on 25 state properties across central and southern Wisconsin. Stocking efforts will take place over two days during the week of Dec. 15. While this last stocking event concludes the 2025 pheasant stocking season, the pheasant hunting season continues through Jan. 4, 2026.”
Oh, so they’re not out of the woods until the fourth day of the New Year. If they stick close to the Reminger homestead, they may safely make it through the winter.
They do have natural predators, too. The biggest predators of the pheasant are foxes, coyotes, owls and hawks. Raccoons and skunks eat their eggs, according to www.stellinamarfa.com.
As I watch them, they seem to do more land-scurrying than flying, but occasionally if a car drives past, they startle and do start to flutter fly and sort of regally glide ground level. How could they possibly escape a crafty, hungry fox or coyote?
One day I saw one on the road, smashed dead by a car. It literally hurt my heart. I was amazed at myself. After all, I’m a farm girl. I’ve had my share of experiences with end-of-life farm animals. As I age, I must be getting schmaltzy. By the very next day, the natural cycle of life took care of the carcass so I didn’t have to be reminded I’d lost one.
Birds are such fascinating creatures, so varied and creatively crafted. I’ve seen little trail cams that one can be put up inside a feeder and watch the birds peck at the seeds close-up and personal. While I probably won’t go that far, I did think about it. It seems to resonate with my tend-to-animals farm girl heart.
At any rate, we’ve got some entertainment for the winter with a little effort on our part. We feed them, which is very satisfying — I’m doing something — and they get a full belly to offset the chill of winter. Plus we get to watch. A good deal.
(“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Luke 12:6-7, New International Version)
Kay Reminger was born and raised on a dairy farm, and she married her high school sweetheart, who happened to farm for a living in Leopolis. Writing for quite a few years, she remains focused on the blessings of living the ups and downs of rural life from a farm wife’s perspective.
