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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2020 • ShawLocal.com

DOUBLE FEATURE

Route 34 Drive-In closes season with Halloween flicks / 3

DISH IT UP

Explore the fresh flavors of Mexico at Hacienda Real / 4

TRICK OR TREAT Bone-chilling Halloween fun for ghosts and ghouls / 5

UNCORKED

SHAW MEDIA

An expert taster shares favorite finds to consider adding to your own wine racks.

Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, October 31, 2020

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By JAMES NOKES

McHenry family makes notable wines in Napa

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uilding is something Brian Cunat has done his entire career.

He’s the president of Cunat Inc., a residential management and property development company in McHenry. When he wanted to venture into wine, he found interchangeable skills between each business. He wanted the winery built for Materra – Cunat Family Vineyards to meet a winemaker’s needs with the latest technology and most efficient design to streamline the process.

A builder’s attention to detail is something winemaker Chelsea Barrett has relished. It’s also something her grandfather, Jim Barrett, who owned Chateau Montelena when its 1973 chardonnay won the Judgment of Paris, a blind tasting that entered Napa Valley as a player on the world wine stage and was featured in the film “Bottle Shock,” didn’t always have. She can recall things being pieced together to make ends meet in the cellar. Her father, Bo Barrett, is the Chateau Montelena CEO and her mother, Heidi Barrett, has made some of the most sought-after wines in Napa.

Materra General Manager Harry Heitz’s family founded Heitz Cellar in 1961 and owned it until it was sold to another family in 2018. Cunat built the best possible winery and found talented individuals who grew up in vineyards and cellars.

In a Zoom interview that was very 2020, Cunat was reached on a rainy day in his McHenry office, while Barrett and Heitz joined from California.

“To put out high quality wines that are competitive in the market, I think we have to have young talent,” Cunat said. “That takes us to that next level.”

But pedigree only takes an employee so far, and Cunat wanted a team well versed in the latest techniques, hungry to make their imprint on the business.

In order to stay at the next level, Barrett knows results are still what counts. Most of her daily encounters are with the production team; to them she’s calling the shots and pointing the wines in the right direction.

“People get excited about it,” Barrett said when asked if it’s hard to live up to her last name. “But production is a more solitary life, day to day. The people I interact with know me well. But I’m not so out and about that I am confronted with it day to day. My sister is in marketing, so she’ll see it more. Pedigree and family name only go so far.

Once through the door, I’m responsible for keeping myself there and doing all the work.”

The Materra – Cunat Family Winery Viognier 2019 ($30) had fleshy pear and peach on the nose. There were flavors of frangipani with tropical star fruit, lime zest and hints of sage. It was a masterpiece interpretation of a varietal that only has 2,600 acres planted in the entire state.

“I have a soft spot for viognier,” Barrett said.

“I’ll evangelize about it; I love it. Condrieu wines are some of my favorites. It can go a waxy over-ripe melon, I do think there’s such a thing as too much with ripeness, and I like a more moderate approach.

I don’t go over-ripe or wait for maximum aromatics, because it’s too much. I like to treat it like chardonnay, where it still has beautiful acid but not too much alcohol.”

Photo provided

Chelsea Barrett is the winemaker at Materra – Cunat Family Vineyards.

There’s not much viognier in Napa Valley, since it’s too hot to ripen properly. But because of its proximity to San Pablo Bay, viognier has found a niche growing location in Oak Knoll. There’s about 4,200 acres of vines in Oak Knoll, and less than 100 are planted to viognier.

“Oak Knoll is a sweet spot for viognier,” Barrett said. “We still have a lot of fog that keeps temperatures moderate, and it doesn’t get blindingly hot. We have cool nights and get nice even ripening.”

The Materra Chardonnay 2019 ($36) had lemon zest, vanilla and hints of toasty oak, but the minerality of water in a creek during springtime made for a crisp, fresh wine.

Unlike viognier, cabernet sauvignon is planted all across California. When asked how he avoided blending in with all the others and becoming white noise, Cunat turned to his own personal tastes. He’s enjoyed wines from Howell Mountain AVA, Diamond Mountain AVA and now the Oak Knoll AVA more than the Valley Floor and thinks the distinction shows in the wines.

Even though it has much of the cachet, Napa Valley cabernet only accounts for about 4% of all California wines, and Barrett liked the chance to capture the slight differences between each AVA. The Materra – Cunat Family Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 ($55) had cedar and cigar wrapper on

the nose with plum and pomegranate flavors.

While so much of winemaking is capturing the nuanced, delicate flavors of a varietal, Barrett relished the chance to work with petite sirah, which has all the elegance of a monster truck. With hearty skins and large crop, it’s an indulgent trip through bold flavors and extraction.

Barrett said petite sirah is “a cool piece of California history as one of few pre-Prohibition era grapes” that has survived.

The Materra – Cunat Family Vineyards Petite Sirah 2016 ($49) is inky dark in the glass and has dark chocolate and ripe plums on the nose. There’s a big, round mouthfeel and flavors of blueberry pie and dark chocolate. Pair it with smoked meats, steak or bacon cheeseburgers. It’s a sturdy wine with grippy tannins.

“It’s from a head-trained, dry-farmed, old-school, rustic-looking vineyard,” Barrett said. “It’s bold, juicy and exciting. I still take a lighter hand than many people do, I don’t want it to be so big and tannic that people have to wait 10 years to have a glass.”

Given his experience, it’s no surprise Cunat has built an impressive portfolio of wines.

• James Nokes has been tasting, touring and collecting in the wine world for several years. Email him at jamesnokes25@yahoo.com.

STARVED ROCK COUNTRY

3 SHAW MEDIA Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, October 31, 2020

Dedicated to growing the awareness of everything the Starved Rock area has to offer

Scott Anderson file photo - sanderson@shawmedia.com

A Halloween double feature will show “Hocus Pocus” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas” as the season finale at the Route 34 Drive-In in Earlville.

Drive-in books Halloween double feature decades of film aficionados and those who miss the authentic drive-in experience from their childhoods. In he year 2020 has seen a boom in 2020, however, new health and safety popularity for drive-in theaters mandates brought on by the COVID-19 across the country, with fans old crisis have created a brand new fan and new flocking to these throw- base for these socially distant outdoor back open-air cinemas for an evening film screenings. Across the country, of socially distant entertainment. The new pop-up drive-in theaters have Route 34 Drive-In, one of just a handopened and the remaining true driveful of true drive-in theaters left in the in theaters have seen substantial United States, has had a banner year increases in admissions. of screenings. To close out the season, Luckily, Starved Rock Country is it’s throwing a great, family-friendly, home to the Earlville venue, one of the Halloween double feature. best single-screen outdoor theaters Fans of the drive-in theater expein the entire Midwest. Located just a rience have just two more chances short drive from I-80 and I-39, the theto enjoy the nostalgic concessions, pre- ater is the perfect destination to savor show cartoons and convenient in-car one last drive-in experience before the audio of Earlville’s Route 34 Drive-In, end of the season. before it closes its doors for the season Double features are a staple of the after Sunday’s show on Nov. 1.

Route 34 Drive-In, and an excellent The rural oasis, located in northvalue for those looking for an enterwestern Starved Rock Country, taining and budget-friendly night out has been a road trip destination for of the house. The theater will screen

By RYAN SEARL

rsearl@shawmedia.com

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the family-favorite Halloween classics “Hocus Pocus” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

The final two showings for 2020 will take place Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, with each screening starting at about 7:30 p.m.

Tickets cost $10 for adults and $7 for children. The Route 34 Drive-In takes cash only; no checks or credit cards will be accepted. Tickets will not be sold online or in advance.

This season, the Route 34 Drive-In has taken extra precautions to make sure customers stay safe while they enjoy their movies. They’ve limited the total car capacity every night to 175 vehicles. This means there will only be one vehicle per drive-in pole, rather than the standard two, allowing for ample social distance.

Guests also have been required to stay in their vehicles, with the exception of visits to the restrooms or concessions, trips to both of which

will require masks or coverings.

The concession menu is limited, for efficiency, and a visit requires proper social distancing. A member of the staff waits outside to coordinate the number of patrons inside the concessions building at one time. The restrooms also are regularly cleaned and sanitized throughout the screenings by a diligent staff.

Conveniently located off Route 34, but surrounded by miles of cornfields, the drive-in theater is truly a nostalgic rural treasure. If you haven’t been before, this season finale is an excellent opportunity to check it out. Be safe and practice your social distancing, but also be sure to enjoy some wonderful films and delicious concessions.

Enjoy your Halloween weekend at the movies!

For more information, visit www. rt34drivein.com or follow the theater on Facebook. The drive-in is at 4468 E. 12th Road in Earlville.

Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, October 31, 2020

SHAW MEDIA

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TACO TASTE SHAW MEDIA

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f you’re craving artisan tacos, spice-rich mole sauces or other Mexican culinary staples, we’ve rounded up a sampling of readers’ favorites to expand your dining horizons. These eateries embrace a sizzling focus on elevating the taco.

DeKALB COUNTY Nina’s Tacos 122 E. Page St., Sycamore 815-991-5336 Facebook at shawurl.com/3e7e Taxco Mexican Cuisine 223 W. State St., Sycamore 815-895-2545 www.taxcorestaurant.com

KANE COUNTY Puebla Modern Mexican 305 W. Main St., St. Charles 630-945-3408 www.pueblamodernmexican.com Bien Trucha 410 W. State St., Geneva 630-232-2665 www.bientrucha.com

KENDALL COUNTY Bien Chido Mexican Grill 10 N. Center St., Plano 630-273-2685 www.orderbienchidomexicangrill.com Patrona Cantina Grille 6500 Route 34, Plano 630-273-2029 www.patronacantinagrille.com

LaSALLE COUNTY La Casa Jalisco 101 E. Bridge St., Streator 815-673-5070 http://la-casa-jalisco.edan.io Fondita Mexican Grill 351 W. Stevenson Road, Ottawa 815-324-9002 Facebook at shawurl.com/3e7c

McHENRY COUNTY El Gordo Mexican Restaurant 929 Front St., McHenry 815-344-2804 www.elgordomexrest.com El Niagara Mexican Restaurant 120 First St., Woodstock 815-338-9881 Facebook at shawurl.com/3e78

WILL COUNTY La Mex Restaurant 3157 W. Jefferson St., Joliet 815-729-2686 www.lamexjoliet.com The Blue Taco 79 N. Chicago St., Joliet 815-514-1139 Facebook at shawurl.com/3e7d

FLAVOR FARE

Hacienda Real gets truly creative with Mexican cuisine The latest restaurant’s opening does not mean a closing of the original, though. Although the first and 10th restaurants each sit in Yorkville, Carlos Aréchiga will tell you he three horses are difficult to miss. they serve different roles. All of the food is Mexican, but They stand in different positions, metal hair Salsa Verde is the place to stop on a lunch break or while blowing in the wind. Look close enough, and the horseshoes that make up the entire body of the horse on the go. Hacienda Real is a full-service establishment with a bar, lounge area and patio. sculptures come into view. Each one has been weld“Hacienda Real is the place you come with your family ed together from recyclable metal in cars. and spend your time,” says Hacienda Real manager José The Aréchiga family bought the horses from a vendor Nieto. “You get transported into a little in Mexico when searching for art for a piece of Mexico. You can travel, basically, new restaurant in Yorkville. They wanted without the passport.” something that paid tribute to the restauThe tables were built in Mexico. The rant’s namesake, Hacienda Real.

■■ WHAT: Hacienda Real chandeliers are from Mexico. And the “Hacienda has to do with a big estate, ■■ WHERE: 585 E. Kendall Drive, menu pays tribute to Guadalajara, the working the fields and raising animals,” Yorkville city where the Aréchigas are from. co-owner Carlos Aréchiga says. “A horse “For us, it’s important to have that being such a representation of the coun■■ PHONE: 630-882-9541 true touch,” Carlos Aréchiga says. try life, we wanted to bring a little bit of ■■ INFO: www.haciendaflavorsofSeafood is a specialty on the menu, it back.” mexico.com another way they pay homage to their The horses serve more than one symoriginal hometown near the west coast bolic purpose. Not only do they embody of Mexico. Traditional plates such as carne asada are also the name, they also represent the foundation of Hacienda staples. In addition, Nieto highlighted the pozole rojo soup; Real: family. enchiladas topped with red, green and mole sauce; and the Displayed outside the restaurant, each horse signifies tacos, which include handmade tortillas made fresh every one of Clemente and Carmen Aréchiga’s sons. A fourth day. horse, delayed in shipping, will join the trio soon.

If there’s one main element that embodies Hacienda The four sons have been an integral part of the AréchiReal’s mission, it’s fresh. gas’ growing restaurant business started in 2012. The name “Being able to come back to Yorkville to show a different of their first restaurant might sound familiar: Salsa Verde, side of doing things, it’s not only very exciting for us but which also calls Yorkville home. Since then, the Aréchiga family has added nine restaurants in places like the western very humbling because a lot of these people have seen our growth and have supported our other restaurants,” says Chicago suburbs and Indiana. Hacienda Real is the 10th.

Carlos Aréchiga. “To us, it’s pure excitement.”

Seven total family members have been regularly involved.

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By NICK KELLY | For Shaw Media

IF YOU GO

HAUNTS Photo provided

‘Midnight on Morton’ back for spooky visits

By AIMEE BARROWS

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abarrows@shawmedia.com

achary and Andrea Sage weren’t sure if they were going to decorate their yard for Halloween this year because of the pandemic.

But after several people asked if they were doing the “Midnight on Morton” interactive display again in Batavia, they changed their minds, and also came up with a way to support the Animal House Shelter in Huntley.

“Anytime we would be in the yard doing yard work, people would pull over and ask if we are still doing the display,” Zachary said in an email. “The feel we got from the community is that it’s something to look forward to and some much-needed magic. It’s outdoors and is visible from your car, or plenty of sidewalk space to stroll around the display and keep socially distanced.”

The Sages are members of the Chicago Haunt Builders organization, which is a group of Halloween enthusiasts who build and create elaborate yard haunts, Zachary Sage said.

This year, the couple has several new additions to the display, including a 12-foottall skeleton; a coffee-drinking, pop-out-ofthe-coffin skeleton; evil oak trees; a rising zombie; splitting tombstone; and more than 12 new grave markers.

The display, which the couple has been doing for four years, is family friendly and can be seen from cars.

It is free to view the yard; the couple is asking for donations for the Animal House Shelter in Huntley. There is a drop-off station called “Coffin for a Cause” where visitors can place their donations. A list of needed items can be found on the “Midnight on Morton” Facebook page.

The display is at 714 Morton St. in Batavia, where it will remain up until Nov. 1.

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SHAW MEDIA

The Chamber will open at 10:45 a.m. at 11104 Front St., Suite 1B, across from the Metra station.

ot even a pandemic could keep an array of Halloween events from returning, often in LaSalle County creative new ways to meet the Halloween Party spooky moment. with Live Music Shakers Sports Bar and Grill McHenry County 121 W. Stevenson Road, Ottawa Spooky Window Illusions www.facebook.com/shakers.

Algonquin Commons ottawa Lifestyle Center Shakers plans musical enter1900 S. Randall Road, Algonquin tainment on Halloween featuring shopatalgonquincommons.com The Student Body band at 9 p.m.

Algonquin Commons mall has The group is described as Chicago’s gone haunted for the Halloween hottest, high-energy party hits season, creating a number of illucover band, adding, “You won’t sions to provide frightfully good fun ever want to skip school again.” for all ages. Everything from pirate Shakers also plans to scare up ghosts to ghouls dancing the night spooky cocktails and a costume away can be spotted in storefront contest. Given changing regulawindows throughout the mall. The tions, check first before heading illusions have been changing over. weekly and can be viewed every evening from dusk to 9 p.m. from DeKalb County one’s car or on foot through Nov. 1. BOO’ze & Spirits High Halloween Walk with a Twist Octane Tour Egyptian Theatre Cary and Fox River Grove 135 N. Second St., DeKalb businesses egyptiantheatre.org www.carygrovechamber.com The historic theater wants to Revamping the annual Hallowtake your Halloween night to the een Walk, the Cary-Grove Area next level with a special BOO’ze & Chamber of Commerce came up Spirits High Octane Flashlight Tour with the Halloween Walk With a kicking off at 9 p.m. Oct. 31. Be ready Twist. Through Oct. 31, trick-orfor a truly haunted evening with a treaters can stop by participating special guest tour guide – paranorbusinesses in the Cary and Fox mal medium Sheila – as you explore River Grove area, which will have candy waiting and will stamp your the theater on the most unnerving passport card. Passport cards and a night of the year. The theater staff list of the businesses are available will share secrets and stories that focus not only on the history of the to be picked up at the Chamber 90-year-old building but also on its office at 445 Park Ave. in Cary or ghostly guests. Drinks are offered at can be downloaded. Completed the new concession stand. Tickets cards will be entered into a drawcost $45 for adults and $40 for stuing to win a shopping spree. dents and seniors. Social distancing Will County will be in place.

Halloween Scavenger Hunt Kane County Mokena businesses Brittain’s Tunnel of Terror mokena.com/halloweenBrittain’s Car Wash scavenger-hunt 1572 Larkin Ave., Elgin The Mokena Chamber of Commerce debuts a Halloween Scaven- https://brittainscarwash.com/ tunnel-of-terror ger Hunt for youth in various age Watch for ghosts and ghouls groups from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 31. They can trick or treat at any of and be ready for a frightful wash, the 20 participating chamber mem- cautions Brittain’s, which has created a new attraction for this ber locations while looking for a secret decoration. Once you find it, unusual year. You can get your car drop one of your raffle tickets into clean between 6 and 10 p.m. Oct. the bucket next to the decoration. 31. Tickets cost $20 per vehicle and include a slowed-down, Platinum The more places you spot it, the more chances to win. Registration Clean car wash full of special is required in advance for the rain- effects, frights and fun. The business will donate $5 from each scaror-shine event, and the fee is $5. ily clean wash to benefit Food For On Halloween, visit the Chamber office to pick up a candy bag, raffle Greater Elgin, which is helping more people than usual. tickets and scavenger hunt map.

SHAW MEDIA Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, October 31, 2020

Halloween

Spirited attractions materialize 5

Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, October 31, 2020

SHAW MEDIA

6 STREAMING THIS WEEKEND

Horror films, Baby Yoda, ‘The Craft’ revisited

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and in the world of theater this week.

Movies

Many things will be different about Halloween this year, but the annual rush of horror films is much the same.

This week brings a bagful. There’s “Come Play,” a sinister parable of too much screen time about a lonely phoneglued boy (Azhy Robertson) who needs saving from his parents (Gillian Jacobs, John Gallagher Jr.), which Focus Features released in theaters Friday. “His House,” on Netflix, gives the genre an immigration spin. It stars Sope Dirisu and Wunmi Mosaku as a Sudanese refugee couple finding new horrors in life in England. On demand is Blumhouse’s “The Craft: Legacy,” a sequel written and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones to the 1996 teenage witch movie “The Craft.”

If you want a more masterful portrait of darker societal realities, you can also turn to Bong Joon Ho, the Korean filmmaker whose “Parasite”

took best picture back in February.

His 2003 film “Memories of Murder” never got a wide release in the U.S. and has been hard to find since. But Neon, the “Parasite” distributor, last week put a restored version into theaters and brought it to VOD. It’s about the investigation of the man, then uncaught, believed to be South Korea’s first serial killer.

And just in time for the election is Frederick Wiseman’s “City Hall,” a sprawling four-hour X-ray of municipal life that patiently documents Boston’s government under Democratic mayor Martin J. Walsh. The celebrated 90-year-old Wiseman makes epic portraits capturing the life of institutions by letting the camera roll and letting conversations unfold. In “City Hall,” which just opened in virtual cinemas beginning with New York’s Film Forum, he’s made – by profiling a progressive, ambitious, self-critical realm of government – what some have called his most pointedly political film.

– Film Writer Jake Coyle

Theater

Lots of plays have been adapted for Zoom, but few have been made for

a Yoda relation known as The Child and five decades old, but the key point is that his cuteness again graces “The Mandalorian,” which returned Friday. The Disney+ series, set a handful of years after “Return of the Jedi,” won seven technical Emmys for its debut season.

Season two finds The Child in the care of bounty hunter Din Djarin, aka Mando (series star Pedro Pascal), who’s been tasked with returning the little one to its mysteriously described “own kind.”

With the world mired in COVID-19, most of us are focused on the immediate “The Nightmare Before Christmas Hallow- fallout. But science is looking ahead een Benefit Concert.” Featuring songs to try to thwart future pandemics, as from Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare detailed in the National Geographic Before Christmas,” the concert will channel’s special “Virus Hunters,” airing star Rafael Casal, Adrienne Warren, at 8 p.m. Sunday. Christopher GoldDanny Burstein and Rob McClure. en, an epidemiologist and ecologist, The show is on Vimeo at 6 p.m. Satjoins with ABC News correspondent urday. Tickets are available on The James Longman to report on efforts to Actor’s Fund Vimeo page and cost just decipher the coronavirus, as well as $4.99 – directly benefiting The Lymthe chain of events that could cause phoma Research Foundation and The another such scourge. The special is a Actor’s Fund. companion to November’s issue of Na– Entertainment Writer tional Geographic Magazine, focused on Mark Kennedy the 2020 pandemic that’s claimed more than 1 million lives worldwide.

Television Baby Yoda is back! OK, so it’s really – Television Writer Lynn Elber

Zoom. One is Natalie Margolin’s “The Party Hop,” which she wrote during quarantine in one week in early April.

It stars Ben Platt, Katilyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein, Molly Gordon, Noah Galvin, Ayo Edebiri, Kathryn Gallagher and Ashley Park. Set three years into quarantine, the comedy follows three college students on a wild night out.

The Dramatists Play Service is streaming it on YouTube through Nov. 10.

Get spooky with some Broadway favorites – and help people all at the same time – with the one-night-only

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By PAM OTTO

Taking interesting dives into the natural world around us, Pam Otto opens new avenues of exploration.

Deer provide ready clues for tracking them

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alking along a creek recently, I couldn’t help but notice how the tips of so many plants – young trees, shrubs and crispy brown wildflowers alike – looked really ragged. Frayed.

Shredded.

The damage was consistent, beginning at the base of the plants and continuing up almost as high as my head. As I surveyed the scene, my brain played a little trick on me. What first came to me as a thought, “Oh dear,” slowly morphed into a realization, “Oh! Deer!”

These chewed – or, more accurately, torn off – stems and twigs are a distinctive sign known as deer browse.

Because white-tailed deer, the only native ungulate, or hoofed mammal, we have in our area, have no upper incisors, they grab and pull as they forage. The result is vegetation that, at best, looks like it got a bad haircut, and, at worst, dies from the abuse.

When you’re out and about in deer habitat, which we have in abundance in our local natural areas, as well as wooded neighborhoods, keep an eye out for deer browse as well as these other common signs: Tracks: Deer have cloven, or split, hooves, and leave behind prints that are vaguely heart-shaped, but with a ridge down the middle. The pointy part of the heart is the front of the foot, where the two crescent-shaped halves come together, but don’t actually meet. These points indicate the direction of travel.

However, just as we can spread our toes, so too can deer. Depending on substrate and other factors, like gait and age, deer can splay their hooves and leave behind tracks that are V-shaped, with the pointy part of the V indicating the rear of the track.

When tracking a deer in very soft substrate, like wet sand or mud, look for imprints of the animal’s dew claws – the two other toes of a deer’s foot.

They will appear as large dots behind the hoofprint.

Print size varies, depending on the age and sex of the deer, from around 3 inches for young fawns to more than 5 inches in length for large bucks. Also, you may notice that the same deer leaves two different-sized hoofprints.

Because the front legs bear more of the animal’s weight, the front hoofprints will be larger and deeper.

Scat: Depending on diet, deer scat can appear as piles of individual, acorn- or oblong-shaped pellets (typical in winter, when food is low in

Photo provided

White-tailed deer lack upper incisors, so rather than neatly nipping off vegetation, they pull and tear as they browse the tops of wildflowers and the tips of twigs.

Photo provided by Valerie Blaine

Close-up of twig pulled apart by deer. moisture), or soft clumps (in spring and summer, when vegetation is lush).

Trails and paths: Deer frequent their favorite areas over and over. Their thoroughfares start out narrow, but as more animals – and humans – discover them, they grow wider. Some of the trails you walk on today in our parks and preserves are former deer paths.

Bedding areas: As prey animals, deer can’t afford to sleep for long stretches. But they do nap often, especially in winter. When these large mammals, which generally weigh 100 to 300 pounds, lie down for a 30-minute snooze, they flatten vegetation and pack down snow. But, again, being

vulnerable to predation, they can’t afford to be obvious. If you want to find deer beds, you usually have to venture off their beaten path. (Those of you with deer in your neighborhood may dispute this point. If you have deer sleeping in your yard, know that they’ve come to recognize the spot as a safe haven, a bed and breakfast they may visit early and often.)

Rubs: Each autumn, at the onset of the whitetail mating season, or rut, bucks vigorously rub their heads and antlers against saplings. This action, which for the deer serves as a means of marking territory, for humans provides an easily observable sign: long strips of frayed bark and exposed sapwood, typically at heights between 2 and 4 feet.

Antlers: These bony structures, which basically are extensions of a buck’s skull, emerge each spring and are shed each winter – usually in December and January in our area.

Remember it is unlawful to remove any natural objects, including antlers, from parks and forest preserves. And if you go hunting for sheds on private property, make sure you first obtain

the landowner’s permission.

Left on the ground, shed antlers serve as an important source of calcium for a number of creatures, including mice, voles, chipmunks and squirrels. Older sheds often bear the marks of their gnawing action.

Where do you look for all these signs? In our area, it’s pretty easy.

Locations that have steady food sources and good hiding places will be rife with signs of deer – maybe even the animals themselves. Bear in mind though that deer are crepuscular, which means they are most active at dawn and dusk. Open woodlands (those that have been maintained via prescribed burns and invasive brush removal), cornfields and yards – especially those with bird feeders – in exurban and rural areas are likely to support somewhere between several and many whitetails. Find some good sites to put your newfound deer-tracking knowledge to use.

• Pam Otto is the outreach ambassador for the St. Charles Park District.

She can be reached at 630-513-4346 or potto@stcparks.org.

SHAW MEDIA Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, October 31, 2020

GOOD NATURED

Shaw Media / ShawLocal.com • Saturday, October 31, 2020

SHAW MEDIA

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WOODHAVEN LAKES Private Recreational Campground

So Much to See. So Much to Do.

Hiking Trails. Woodlands. Nature. Lakes. WiFi. Pools. Crafts. Movies. Fitness Center. Prairie. Deer. Pavilions. Arcade. Mini Golf.

Day Camp. Tennis. Basketball. Live Music. Theme Activities. Fireworks. Painting Parties. Open Markets. Social Events. Volleyball.

Shuffleboard. Teen Dances. Car Show. Paddleboats. Sledding. Farmers Markets. Night Hikes. Campfires. Fishing. Tournaments.

Pickleball. Acoustic Nights. Wine & Cheese Social. Road Rally. Golf Outing. 5K/3K. Haunted House. Canoing. Anything That Floats.

Horseshoes. Petting Zoo. Wagon Rides. Aqua Zumba. Playgrounds. Karaoke. Family Fun Night. Coffee Hour. Clubs. DJs. Scavenger Hunts. Kayaking. Tug of War. Food Fairs. Picnics.

Sublette IL | 815-849-5209

www.woodhavenassociation.com

Call us for a tour!

SM-LA1820015