The Red Rocket

Sunny with the temperature reaching a scorching high of 28F yesterday. 

Positively tropical!

 

Doggo and I ran the trail camera trap line; consequently she got a minimum 1 mile round-trip run under her collar.    Poor Pupper has had a bad case of cabin fever during the recent polar vortex with brief outside time to perform her business and occasionally get a quick dose of the zoomies.  

In case you’re wondering about all of the tracks in the snow; none of those belong to anyone in the household. We’ve been home bound for about a week on account of the extreme cold. Some of those trails look like woodland superhighways.  And they’re all critter tracks.  Mostly whitetail but also raccoon, possum, turkey, fox, weasel and coyote. Maybe a ditch tiger too. 

You’ll note Ruby taking a deliberate slide at the 28 second mark in the video. Not much escapes her nose and that’s to check some fresh coyote spoor. 

The video ends with big, fresh canine turd.  Didn’t look wild. Maybe from a local trailing hound?

Anyway, I’ve had an unusual spate of technical fails on the cameras lately. Will be interesting to see if they’ve been debugged and what, if anything, we got pics of. 

Stay-tuned….

Tracking

From our walk the other morning there were these fresh tracks in the fresh snow...

Weasel

Deer Mouse

And Wile E. Coyote

Following the Evidence

One of the advantages of hiking in the winter is the story that can be ascertained from evidence left in the snow.  That can include scat, urine stains, feathers and fur but namely tracks.

From our walk the other day we found this...

A large wing print left in the snow that was more than three feet-across from tip to tip with a large divot in the snow centered at the bottom.

 

 

If I had to guess this was left by a Great Horned Owl.  

The divot is where the birds talons plunged into the snow to grab they prey.  The hearing of this owl is so acute that they can discern a rodent beneath up to a foot of snow.

It's their nesting season now and I can hear them calling back and forth when I take the dog out before bedtime most nights.

Tracking

From our walk this morning it was 22 F and sunny - no gloves or hat required

Blonde Dog and I did some tracking 

We crossed the Oregon Trail of rodent tracks (sun low on the horizon = long tall shadow) 

Some sort of canid came loping thru leaving pairs of tracks spaced 5-6 feet apart

Smaller, closely-spaced tracks belong to a cat or racoon?

 

Tracking

One of the principle advantages of winter is snow.  All the better to learn who is moving about.

From our walk today we followed the bounding track of four footprints spaced 12 to 18 inches -apart.

Weasel.

Tracks

 From our walk there were these tracks in the snow.

I posted them on my Face Book page and guesses were racoon, fox, bobcat and dog.  Small paw prints space 8 to 10 inches apart.

We uploaded the SD cards from the camera that covers this trail and here is the culprit.

As I expected - a Ditch Tiger......

Tracks

Found this photo on my phone from awhile ago.  Likely the last time this season that I got to strap-on my snowshoes for a hike.

Ring neck pheasant sign for sure.

Haven't seen nor heard them.  Dog haven't flushed any.  But there tracks are ubiquitous.  

Whodunnit?

These canid tracks are not from my Labs.   

From my field guide there is this.   

Tracks:  forepaw 2¼ inch long, round to slightly oval, hind paw slightly smaller; straight line of single tracks; hind paws fall near or directly onto fore prints (direct register) when walking, often obliterating the forepaw tracks,  12-15 inch stride when walking.  

Yup - yote.

Tracks

click on the image for a closer look

Fetching wood the other day some fresh snow had blown under the door to collect on the floor of the barn.

Perfect way to verify that it remains occupied by the resident mice.

Yes, those are dog tracks in the concrete...

Winter Critter Identification

I happen to be one of the rare individuals who embraces winter.  The cold doesn't particularly bother me as long as I'm dressed for the conditions (and not fighting for survival).  The night skies are clear and sharp and offer the most excellent opportunities to engage in amateur astronomy - and on occasion the northern lights pay a visit to my latitude.  There are no mosquitos or sociopath yellow jacket wasps.  And there is evidence of the animals on the landscape - namely their tracks that are easily found in the snow.  And it's not like you have to travel far at all as long as you are observant.

Just for fun I've posted a handful of photos of animal tracks found in the yard immediately adjacent to the house.  See if you can match them with the animals listed below. 

 

 

click on images to enlarge

 

Choose from the following:  feral cat, ring neck pheasant, dark-eyed junco, deer mouse, whitetail deer 

 

Guess The Critter

Last week I posted a photo of some tracks paralleling the south bank of Silver Creek.  I guessed they were left by a weasel.  Nevertheless, I sent a photo to my pal who is a biologist with the UW-Madison Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology.  You know her - she's the same person mentioned in Sunday's post.

She suggested mink - so I wasn't too far off.

Last weekend while out turkey hunting I came across these tracks.  About the same size as the mink tracks but in single file.  A critter walking deliberately and not leaping in fits and starts like a weasel.









My guess is feral cat.  

I'll save pestering my biologist friend for the difficult critter identification.

click on images for a closer look

 

Talking Turkey

By the time this post is published I'll be back out stalking the wild turkey.  Well, not really 'stalking' as that would imply slowly moving thru the woods to ambush an unwary gobbler.  That is known as 'still-hunting'.  How it got that name is a mystery as you're certain not standing still.  In any event, I'm not using that hunting technique as wild turkeys are really too wary (in my opinion) to hunt in this fashion.  The snow is deep..
For me turkey hunting is characterized by lengthy hours of sitting still from a place of concealment over a decoy set-up, calling every 20-30 minutes and a clear view of possible approaches.

With as much snow as there is on the ground I'm using a winter camouflage smock - a poncho-like garment that I can pull-on over multiple layers of clothing. 

To locate a place to set-up simply hike along a trail until you find fresh turkey sign.  Like this:

click on images for a better look

Guess the Critter

click on image to enlarge

 

A small set of tracks paralleling the south bank of the creek heading west.  Small critter as they didn't leave much of an impression on the deep wet snow.  

Who left them?

Maus

These tracks on fresh morning snow are evidence of either a white-footed mouse or a deer mouse. 

 

The most common mouse in Wisconsin and most widespread of mouse species across North America is the deer mouse.  And you will find it in nearly every type of habitat within that range.  You will find them in your yard, forest, your shed, nibbling-upon the washer hoses of my Honda CRV and during the winter in my bird nest boxes.  Approach a nest box and get a whiff of a strong smell of urine?  Deer mice have taken-up residence.  It is the most widely distributed and abundant mammal in North America.  

The white-footed mouse is also widely distributed but prefers wooded or brushy areas.  It is sometimes found in open areas. 

 

This rodent is a common source of food for foxes, coyotes, hawks, owls and snakes.  Yes, life is short when you live near the bottom of the food chain - which would explain why they are so prolific.   Litters are 1-8 pups three times a year.   And each is sexually mature at a month and a half of age. 

 

They’re not aggressive and are actually quite tame. 
 

Guess the Critter

From a walk in the woods...
 

The first set of tracks might be from a member of the weasel family?

Photo bomb notwithstanding the second looks like an erratic, miniature trench line made by a rodent forging thru the powdery snow.  Vole perhaps?

Help.

Tracks

On the driveway...

click to enlarge

Cow Path

Was out with the girls the other day running the trail camera trapline.

You can probably guess why this cam is located where it is, eh?

Creatures of habit that they are during mud season the well-traveled deer trails look like cow paths.

Ringnecks!

Haven't seen any since December but I hear them cackling from time to time.

When blonde Lab and I were out for a walk a couple of weekends-ago this really got her attention and sniffer going.

Must have been several pheasants to leave this large of a trace.  

The snow is gone now yet The Frau spotted a cock adjacent to our neighbor's yard just a couple of days ago.

click to enlarge

Tracks

Now that the season is closed these tracks are appearing all over the place.

Ringneck pheasant.

Deer Mouse

click on image to enlarge

I think these tracks were made by my friend the deer mouse - Peromyscus maniculatus. 

The most common rodent found in North America and Wisconsin.  I find these little critters frequently taking-up winter residence in my bird nest boxes.

Have to be careful cleaning out the boxes as this little rodent is the primary host for virulent hantavirus.