Who's Tracks Are These?

Who do these tracks belong to? This is a question I can answer very well. Some are animal tracks, but most of these tracks belong to humans who have ventured off the walking trails. Just by looking at them for a second or two a good everyday adventure like me can figure out this little mystery with relative ease.

I can tell by their patterns that the people who left these tracks in the snow were playing a little treasure hunting game called geocaching. And almost all of them were unsuccessful finding their little treasure. You might wonder how I know they failed in their quest. I didn't see the people; only their tracks. Those tracks revealed it all to me.

You see, I know where the treasure is, and it's because I'm a better tracker than these others are. The people that hid the treasure did a good job hiding it, but there are little signs that reveal the location. I followed those signs, but none of these other people did. They'll never find it. None of their snowy tracks go near the prize, but I can see their search patterns. I'll never tell. Secrets are fun.

And what about these tracks above? More geocachers looking for their prize? Nope! This busy looking trail is actually a deer trail. Every one of those tracks belongs to a white-tailed deer. This park is full of these beautiful creatures, but they hide just as well as any hidden treasure. And finding them is every bit as fun.

I can find these treasures too, but I haven't in quite some time now. Deer mostly come out in the open at only certain times of the day. I haven't been able to come out at the right time. When I do, these deer will actually come and find me. Using the right body language helps make them more confident around me. That can be good, but also bad at times.

Most people think a deer would run away at the sight of a human, but they run towards me at times. Sometimes they even try to scare me away with an implied threat. A small adjustment in my posture usually stops them short. Check my archives for proof of my bragging. Do a search for "deer" above and to the right if you like. You'll find it all there.

This picture above is a closeup of one of the deer tracks from the above trail in the melty snow. Yup, I said "melty." You'll never find that one in the dictionary. Don't worry, I didn't either. I know many of you know a deer track when you see one, but for those of you who don't, go out and look for tracks that look like these. Now you know. Snow works best, but mud will do.

That's it for this very old-style post of mine. I used to write 'em like this back before anyone was reading. They just weren't quite so long winded. Next time I'll bring you my first animal of the year. Can you guess what it might be? I've told only one of you, a person who I met on the nature trail a few days ago.

I'll be back in a couple of days to bring you a wonderful sign of spring.


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