Friday, December 26, 2008

Animal Activity

Christmas is over, and I'm back from my little pause. I never really left, but I've had a few busy days where I couldn't really get on here as much as I usually do. I noticed that it's been the same for a lot of other people too. I wondered what it would be like, and now I know.

Just as a reminder, the last thing I talked about was the bitterly cold weather here. Well, that has passed us by now, and I'm ready to go! I've been outside now, doing what I like to do, only once so far since then, but I'm ready to go back out there now. I've been waiting so long, and now I have the time again.

The first thing I did was to go out behind my house, and see what the situation was back there. The snow had gotten very deep out there, and along with the cold it had been an impossible task to walk through that up until now. Since I knew that I wouldn't freeze to death now, I knew it was the right time.

Because the snow was so deep, and it covered everything, I decided to do something back there that I haven't done up until now. I was going to go all the way back to the trees to check for animal activity. I was going to see if any animals had left tracks back there.

I haven't seen anything moving back there for about a month, so I didn't really expect to see that much. I didn't really want to walk through all of that snow, so I couldn't imagine any animals wanting to do it either. But then, they have to be out here, but I don't. Maybe I might find something.

It was not easy getting back there at all. I soon found out that the snow came all the way up to my knees! On top of that, the wind was blowing hard, and it was snowing again. If you look at the first photo, you can see the snow in the air. I didn't even need the flash to capture it. Even with all of this, I began my journey to the treeline.

After trekking through the deep snow, I finally made it all the way to the back. What I found there was astonishing! Not only were there animal tracks, but there were a lot of them. Maybe it took a while to make these tracks, but there was something that had been all over the place back here.

Whatever this animal was, it had been going in and out of the trees in several places. Maybe there was only one, and maybe there were several animals. I really don't know. The snow was too deep to find out what made the tracks. Plus it was snowing then too, so any identifying marks were quickly being covered up.

Maybe it was just a neighborhood dog, but I choose to imagine that it was something much more exciting. There have been several coyote sightings nearby. I heard that they are becoming a problem very close by. These animals are closely related to dogs, but they're wild and they can get mean if they're hungry.

I saw something like one of these predators back here last spring, but nothing since. I've warned people not to let their kids go back there alone. An animal like this can be very dangerous. There aren't many really dangerous animals around here, but a coyote is one of them. The animal I saw was cunning, and it watched me with intelligence in it's eyes.

Who knows? This could also be deer tracks. It's hard to see them in this picture, but this area is full of tracks. None of them human. This is the area that the deer go when they leave my yard. It's some kind of animal highway or something.

I've walked in there to see where they go from there, but I couldn't find any obvious path. I'll have to check again for more tracks another time. Maybe I can solve this little mystery then. I didn't stay out here for very long this time, because my camera was getting snowed on, and I don't want it to get ruined. That wouldn't be good at all!

I see all of these tracks, and hope that I can spot a real animal this winter. I know they're out there. I think it's only a matter of time before I see one. One of these days I might have photos of an animal walking through the snow. Then I'll show them to you all. It obviously hasn't happen yet, but I can dream.


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7 comments:

  1. Did you check your roof for reindeer tracks?

    Hope you had a very Merry Christmas.

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  2. I tried to relate the depth of snow to size and weight of a coyote; the snow may bury this animal and you will find them frozen like the turkey in your fridge...

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  3. WiseAcre - When I checked, there was only some guy in a red suit. He wasn't a reindeer, so I didn't take a picture.
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    Rainfield61 - You're right. Maybe the deer came back again. A frozen coyote would be kind of funny.:)

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  4. Too warm and wet here to enjoy either skiing or snowshoeing today. Maybe the even warmer weather expected tomorrow will bring out some critters.

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  5. Sharkbytes - All of this ice we've had has made a sharp crust on the snow in these photos, so I'll be looking for critters elsewhere.

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  6. I had to fall back on indoor wildlife for today's adventure. Strange weather!

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  7. Sharkbytes - I got lucky today. As soon as the rain stopped, I went out and had a great adventure, including a few nice surprises. The sun even began to shine for a while.

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