Friday, January 22, 2010

Tracking A Problem


What you see here in the pictures are obviously animal tracks. They don't really look quite like they did when the animal left them there because the weather has been warm enough around here that the snow is melting. That can make it very hard to properly identify animal tracks because they have become distorted, so the sometimes don't look the same at all.

I'm having a similar problem with one of the hard drives on my computer. The files have become corrupt so I'm trying to recover them and find out what they are. Like the animal tracks above, I won't be able to recover them all. But with some detective work, I'll be able to get some of them back. I have the equipment now, but it will take some time.

But we'll mostly talk about these animal tracks for now. Did I find out what animal they belong to? Well, I can never be sure, but I think I have. They are about twice the size they originally were, and the left one is mostly unidentifiable by itself. But I'm sure these tracks belong to a squirrel. What else would they be here? And like I said before, I used a little detective work.


This track is about a foot behind the other two. There was a trail of these tracks, with the first set being the best I found. I followed the tracks from the base of one tree right up to the base of another tree. That's a very good sign of squirrels since they will travel through the trees as much as they can.

A lot of times you can tell squirrel tracks from rabbit tracks this way. They can both look very similar. If they lead up to a tree, and disappear, they are most likely squirrel tracks. You aren't going to find many rabbits in the top of a tree, but squirrels call those trees home. This information is not complete at all, but it might get you started in learning at least these tracks.

And now to end my post today, I just want to tell you all that I'm temporarily away from the internet. I'm busy trying to recover the files from the hard drive I mentioned above, and this is taking up almost all of my time right now. The files aren't critical, but I still value them greatly. So until I recover as much as I can, I'll be mostly away from the internet. I'll make an announcement here when I'm back. And those of you who routinely comment here will know because you'll see me in your blog's comment section.

Until then, a very busy everyday adventurer, signing off.

13 comments:

  1. Detective Ratty is on the case! *Grin* I sure hope you are able to recover all or at least most of your files (that's a nightmare we all live in fear of).

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  2. Good luck with your computer work..I'm very bad in identifying the footprints in the snow.

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  3. Good luck with your computer Ratty. I know how it is. Had to replace mine last year at this time. It crashed but thank heavens was under warranty. And thank heavens I had most things backed up onto externals. I just got a new external. My other two are full. One is a 500 Gig and the other is a 250 Gig. Can't believe I have so much stuff! Ha! The videos and pictures take up most of them of course.
    See you soon. Hope it goes smoothly for you.

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  4. Being the great detective that you are I am sure that you will locate the necessary clues to recover most of your files. Your computer skills are obviously much better than mine.

    Bill:www.wildramblings.com

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  5. So I have to start tracing where you are in the internet.

    I smell, I look and I hear for any traces of a Rat.

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  6. We'll miss you Ratty!
    But you gotta do what you gotta do!

    May the Force be with you...

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  7. Ratty! Come back soon. We will miss you. Good luck with that computer.

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  8. Awww... good luck with the computer, Ratty! We lost all our Spring break 2008 photos when our pc got the bug. It broke my heart. Hope you can save yours! You'll be missed. :)

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    To learn more about the program go to http://www.jr041283.com/2010/01/spread-love.html

    I am hoping to hear from you soon. Happy blogging.

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  10. Good luck with the computer problems. That can be so frustrating.

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  11. Ugh, computer problems. I hope you can recover everything and get things back to normal, Ratty. Good luck!!!

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  12. Good luck with the hard drive. I hope you can save those files.

    The tracks in your photo look more like raccoon tracks to me. We have lots of raccoons and possums in the area and I see their tracks all the time. Since they also climb trees you might want to take a second look.

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  13. Good luck on your quest, Ratty - I still haven't backed up all my files, even with the arrival of my "server" a couple of weeks ago. Isn't that horrible? I need to get my act together! I had a computer crash a couple of years ago and lost everything which was such a tragedy for me.

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