...We tolerate winters such as these, when hens and roosters freeze to death, their faces mere clumps of ice after they turn windward to a final, desperate attempt to survive. Have you ever watched a pheasant freeze?

Those words by Dennis Anderson, then Outdoor Editor for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, in a March 7, 1982 article served as the most emotional rallying cry for hunters to form an organization devoted to wildlife habitat conservation - Pheasants Forever.

Most of us, in our insulated and comfortable lives, will never witness a pheasant freeze to death. But it happens, as this video shows and explains. And while winter habitat is a serious matter, there's one rather amusing line by the hunter in this video that's hard not to chuckle at. If it's still winter where you are, take comfort in the humor...and start mulling that conifer shelterbelt planting.