Nature Study/ Animal Tracks

  Today I woke to a winter wonderland strewn with trash.  A hole had been ripped into the side of a bag I had set out last night, to be taken out to the dumpster in the morning.  The clue to the perpetrator was a single elvish hand print in the snow.  It had to have been a rather crafty raccoon, to have left so few prints behind. 

I also saw signs of dogs (Such as this one) and cats, which led me to wonder what other animals had left their prints behind last night.   Anna and I bundled up and headed out into the cold with a camera and an animal track guide.

I love finding animal tracks.  They are like clues to the secret lives of animals-- who was here, where did they travel to?  Somewhere they stopped; maybe dug a spot in the snow, then moved on.  These are cat tracks, of which there were definitely the most.

Birds, birds, and more birds over here.  Must of been where Anna spilled the bird seed.  Occasionally you could see a perfect little tail print where the tail feathers pressed down right before flight.

There were also many bunny prints lippity lopping over the yard, and eventually disappearing under our shed.

Squirrel prints were seen under the shrubbery, looking so much like the footprints of teeny tiny men wearing boots.

The snow has laid bare all their little comings and goings.  Secret passageways now discovered.