Muskrat Tracks in snow

 

 

Muskrat tracks in shallow snow on ice at White Memorial Conservation Center, a great place to track.

Ghost Fox

I found a scent post on this tree with my nose while doing chores outside.  I put the game camera on it and a few days later got these cool pictures of this Red Fox.

 

 

 

It has snowed since then and tracks of the fox went to and from the tree with a cluster of tracks suggesting another spritzing but the camera is acting up and did not capture it.  I wonder how often it visits there?  It is within easy sight of my house.

Black Bear on game camera

Deneen saw bear tracks at this spot one day and a week or so later I found another fresh set nearby.

Coming soon

Honeymoon trip on the Allagash.

New England Primitive Skills Gathering

Last weekend was the New England Primitive Skills Gathering in Woodbury CT.  Its nice and low key this year, the weather was cooler than previous years which was nice for all the people working on bows.  Met some great new people with a real passion for the woods and their craft. 

I didn’t take a single picture which means I must have had a great time.  A few things I did this year where; help lead edible plant walk, started some pottery, was gifted a lot of material like cordage and basket making material and some bow staves (hop hornbeam). 

It was good to see everyone again.  See you all not soon enough.

Andy

Spring Time

Sorry I have not been writing, its been a very busy spring working long hours at work and teaching a lot on the weekends. 

On a walk along the road the other day I saw a lot of great edible plants.  Did not have the camera but heres a list; Hog Peanut, Ground Nut, Sumac, Ramps, Burdock, Sweet Fern.  All within a short walk from my house. 

Here are some pictures of things I have seen around. 

Skunk tracks in the garden (and a dog)

Skunk poop (I think)

Dead fish found at White Memorial on shore of Bantam Lake near shore point where otter sign was found.  Otters chew tails off of fish upon catching them so they won’t swim away. 

Otter scat and muskrat skull and bones.

Open muscle shell right next to otter scat. This was a super cool place that had scat of multiple ages. 

A thrush in my back yard.  I am not sure if its a wood or hermit thrush.

Thrushes nest.  Female was also nearby.  They had divebombed some kids who were looking at the nest earlier. 

Bobcat hunting lay and Coyote pack gathering.

 Bobcat trail up under the powerlines near my house.  If you look deep into the track you can see the asymmetry typical of the felines. 

 I followed him ( I think it was a hime because of the size of the tracks and stride of the trail), up the hillside and found this spot.  He entered from the left, the fanlike impressions toward the top of picture are from its front feet and forlegs as it moved back and forth changing is view. 

Bobcats and other felines hunt very much like humans do, using stealth and their sense of site and hearing to locate prey.  This requires stopping often to look and listen, in this case the bobcat created what is called a hunting lay where he sat for a long period of time watching the hillside from above for any prey.  Below is a picture from the Bobcats vantage. 

 

At the top of the hill just above the Bobcat’s hunting lay, I found these tracks of some Coyotes gathering in there nightly rendezvous.  I have heard the pack howling to each other many times in the night coming together to reinforce family bonds and share in the hunt.  As you can see in the picture below they are not shy about partying near human habitation.

These prints where just steps from the gathering spot pictured lower down.  I had seen tracks such as these before near pack gathering places and did not quite have the confidence to call them what I believe they are.  I have seen them enough now that I am willing to say it is the spot where the initiating Coyote stood to begin the howling after which the others would have answered and then headed to the spot.  The animal came in from the left leaving tracks of its front feet once then again to the right in pairs.  The added depth of the pair of tracks furthest to the right suggest a lingering and shifting of weight.  I take this as signs of its raising its head and straining with the emotion of its song.   Upon hearing one of its comrades aproach from behind it turned around to meet it. 

This is looking back toward the direction of the Bobcat lay.  To the right is the gathering spot where the Coyotes greeted each other, testing pack hierarchies with posturing and muzzle licking and maybe some good natured romping. 

 Adjacent is a scent marking, something I see with each of these gatherings, part of the complex visual, olfactory and vocal comunication system these neighbors of mine use amungst themselves and for the benifit of strangers.   Look close and don’t eat the yellow snow. 

Coyote Kill site?

In field behind my house we came upon these tracks telling a story to us.  My interpretation of that story is as follows.

A female Coyote, by the size of her tracks, used my old tracks in the deep snow as she crossed the field.  Both canines and felines often use old prints and trails to make walking in the snow easier, always looking for efficiency in use of calories.  Upon hearing or smelling something under the snow she varied from her path, walking slowly toward the source of the sound.

 

This is the direct registering walk just preceding the attack.

 

Just before the large disturbance of the attack she hesitates probably more than once as shown by the mis-regestering tracks.  Then she moves right for the initial pounce, stomping and lunging at what was probably a vole under the snow. 

 

She then followed the little rodent as it moved under the snow to the upper left of this picture and pounced again.  I imagine at this point she was either successful or gave up because from here she walks away speeding up into an overstep walk, pictured below that signifies a brisk pace where the hind feet surpass where the front feet have just stepped.  You can see this below, the hind feet are the smaller ones just ahead of the larger front track. 

 

Finally she walks away using an old trotting trail of a coyote, possibly her own, made when the snow was softer.  It is possible that this is a Red Fox trail, it falls within the overlap of measurements between Red Fox and Coyote.  The tracks don’t look like Fox tracks, they are on the tight side like Coyotes and seemed to lack the evidence of the hairy paws of a Fox.  I have not tracked many Fox and in a desire to do so I keep trying to see Fox in Coyote tracks when really it is pretty clear these are Coyote.

Fox in Maine

Fox trail in Maine.  We saw many prints similar to this one as well as the scat below. 

 

Fox repeatedly marked small trees and things along the trails, you can just see his trail lead up to and away from the tree.  The scent marks smelled a little skunky which is consistant with a male fox this time of year (late December to early January).  This is mating season and he is busy making himself known to rivals and prospective lovers. 

Hunting Hawk

Saw this in the field behind my house.  I think by the foot prints it is a redtail whom must have seen the little mouse or vole poking its head up and swooped down for it from the right, grabbed it, hoped to the left as it lost speed and stopped their,standing on its prey for a few moments as I have seen them do and commeced to eat the creature.   Then took off the way it had come. 

Notice prints and blood and guts.