Their innocence betrayed them,

But it is our doing.

They had no reason to question.

Their ways were always the same, same today as yesterday

Dependable for tomorrow.

But now something is different.

It is a difference not of their making.

A difference perplexing and dangerous, one they don’t understand.

The snow pack is less, shallower than before,

Easier for owls to penetrate.

Easier for winter cold to penetrate.

So now they freeze or are eaten.

Some starve as there is less food to sustain them.

This past summer was too hot and too dry to produce the food they need.

Being white in the winter is no longer a defense.

The hours of sunlight signal their bodies when to change the color of their fur.

But the shorter winters haven’t caught up and

They are now like sitting ducks, white in a world of early spring brown.

The changes aren’t fair.

They notice but their innocence fogs their thoughts.

They don’t know it is our doing but we do… or should.

We have failed them,

And they, the innocent ones,

Continue to suffer.