It’s not immediately obvious how snow pack differs from rain (and not that I’m claiming to know all the ways), but you see it in ponds, sloughs, and dugouts. Once the ground thaws in the Spring, rain doesn’t do much to replenish these bodies of water. It’s the initial melting of snow that fills them, as the water runs until it hits a spot where it can collect. So, a dry winter can affect things for the entire summer.

We didn’t have much snow last winter, and this summer - and continuing to today - we’ve had a lot of thirsty animals around our house. We’ve started putting rocks in the dog water dishes because we’d wake up with mice that had drown in the bowls over night. Deer drink from our birdbath, and this summer any standing water was getting swarmed by bees.

I’m not old enough to say “it’s never been this bad!” but, things definitely don’t feel right.