Something Wild This Way Came
Lots of small snowfalls in recent weeks make for fresh pages to record the activity of the critters in the area. Can you guess who made the prints pictured? Answers at the bottom. Hopefully, your device will let you zoom in on the photos.
And finally…..
Answers below….
#1 - Possible pine marten, most likely, Abert squirrel, one of the bigger Gray-berts. They are too small to be a raccoon. I would love it to be marten! I know they are here, caught a very brief marten hunt on the wildlife camera once.
#2 - Abert squirrel on the run. Bigger jumps through deeper snow change the print.
#3 - Vole - teeny-tiny feet. They usually stay under the snowpack, but not always.
#4 - Mouse - lovely little tail drag signature. The little guys can stay on top of even very soft snow.
#5 - Coyote - across the frozen pond
#6 - Many little birds and wing signatures
#7 - Deer passing by through the mud
#8 - human and domestic dog!
#9 - tons of squirrel - Abert, pine, and fox squirrels, plus various bird prints, but also deer, fox, and coyote
Did you guess correctly? Did I? I’m open to correction!
What about the big, cool prints like moose, elk, mountain lion, wolf, and bear? In the volume of animals, the little guys outnumber the bigger ones exponentially. All have reasons to not be present currently, such as the elk heading to lower elevations away from the deeper snowpack and access to grasses. As for mountain lion, Colorado averages just 1 mountain lion per 10 square miles, and that is considered a high population. Spotting mountain lion tracks and lions themselves certainly occurs regularly, but it is far less common than you’d see squirrel, deer, or coyote. The bears, at 1.2 per 1 square mile, are hibernating, and perhaps might have woken for a bit through this current thaw, but will return to their dens soon as the next rounds of snow and deep cold arrive tomorrow. Wolves have not been spotted south of I-70 yet, so true wolf tracks would be quite a find! (And are often mistaken with dog tracks.) I’ll keep looking for those pine marten tracks though.
Join me on the AbertEssays Facebook and Instagram pages for my ‘Encounters’ posts. It will become quite busy as we move into Spring and the land wakes up with lots to see. Heavy spring snows on the way first though.
What wild thing came walking by your place?