This litter is actually good for the forest.

The layer of fallen forest leaves hidden beneath the snow is a miniature "micro-habitat" which is a microcosm of surrounding woodlands. Many animals rely on leaf litter as winter habitat for both food and shelter.

When food is scare at the end of winter before the earliest hint of spring green, a thick carpet of fallen, rotting leaves along forest edges sheltered from wind - in the lee of a stonewall or beneath a thicket - provides excellent hunting. So-called backyard "waste places" are anything but, so spare the raking and bark mulch routine!

In late March, leaves are exposed by melting snow and warmed by strengthening sun on steep, south-facing slopes. Rotting leaves provide a rich "jambalaya" of slow-moving ants, spiders, and beetles that attract foraging birds and mammals weary of frozen fare.

The forest floor is carpeted with leaves. The intricate leaf litter micro-habitat shelters insects and catches wind-blown seeds. The spongy surface of rotting wood is populated with insects and spiders sought by ground-foraging turkeys and songbirds.

Awakening chipmunks and skunks prowl through leaf litter. Mice and voles that forage in leaf litter draw the attention of red foxes and barred owls. A faint rustle amid fallen leaves tolls their dinner bell.

As the rich, moist "layer cake" of rotting leaves slowly decays to become new soil, it remains as rich in biological diversity and predator-prey dramas as the larger surrounding forest.