playing in the snow
Feb 26th, 2008 by woodstone
Ok… so I kind of went crazy taking pictures this morning.
We got just a dusting of snow last night, and it was exactly the right amount and consistency (not too slushy) to preserve the tracks of the wildlife we share our land with.
As I headed out to the barn this morning to feed, I was totally distracted by these perfect little bird tracks on our front steps.
They were so crisp and clear I just had to run back inside to get the camera to take a picture. (Leaving the goats and Chance… our “foster horse”… yelling for breakfast!)
Well… one thing kind of led to another, and R and I ended up spending at least half the morning tramping around looking for tracks before the snow melted.
We found quite a few…
These are the smallest we found.
I don’t know what made them (mice?) but whatever it is, they appear to be living under our front porch and using the landscaping timber as a sidewalk.
Funny little bird tracks… It looks like he was dancing!
More bird tracks near the barn…
….and R checking them out.
Can you guess what made this funny step/drag track?
My little lame sheltie, Quin! He has one back leg that doesn’t work well, it gives him a very distictive track.
We moved further and further from the house looking for tracks, and up near the road we found these. I’m guessing they’re rabbit tracks…
Mule deer tracks… If you look closely you can see the split hoof.
We decided to try and find coyote tracks, so we went down into the gully and looked into the thicket where they like to hang out (while eating the neighbor’s chickens!). We could see tracks….
…but it was just more bird tracks.
The snow was starting to melt by then, but we kept looking. R was fascinated by all the holes, leading to warm little burrows in the snow, that she found in the gully.
Finally, we found this… It looks canine, and our dogs couldn’t have made it, but I’m not sure if it’s a coyote track or not. Whatever it is, we had fun searching for it…
No tracks here, I just thought the stripes of light and dark in the garden looked cool.
The snow is almost all gone now, but luckily it lasted long enough to give us a whole morning’s worth of fun!
Those might be mice, though they look a bit big. But they are definitely NOT voles (voles are smaller than mice, though you probably already know that). They might a small type of mouse though. Like a field mouse.
I can’t help you on the dog tracks.
Tigger
I like three things about your post.
1. You actually noticed the tracks. It is so easy to go through life with blinders on and then miss little wonders.
2. You wanted to show them to a child.
3. You took pictures so that you could show them to us.
I theory you may be able to watch it on a cable channel. You could even call a proper Irish pub and ask them if they will show it. I’ve seen Irish pubs in the states that broadcast Irish sports, they may be showing eurovision for the craic as well.
Well that certainly puts a different spin on all this snow that I am growing a rather strong allergy to.
Dh said that one morning he saw rabbit tracks across the driveway to the yard where the rabbit had scratched the snow back to nibble on the grass…I didn’t get to see it cuz he shoveled it all way.
your house is so much more fun than mine.
Well, we’re off. “see” you in a couple of weeks.