Makin' Tracks - (Reading the freshly fallen snow)

If we take time to notice the signs, the story becomes clear...

I often go to Havenwoods State Forest.  This you know if you read this blog.  One of the last times I visited, it was a day after a goodly amount of fresh snow had just blanketed the landscape. The hue of all around me was a beautiful ice-blue. Pulling on my brown Sorel boots, and fitting a warm hat upon my head; I walked off the plowed road into the deep white.  I was here with full intentions of birding, however it wasn't too many yards into the woods where I decided to chronicle instead, the magnificent drama all around me captured in the snow.  It would have been easy to discount or even miss entirely, but I was in no hurry and the afternoon sun was doing its best to warm the air making it quite comfortable.   I was ready for a new and delightful adventure as I always am.  Perhaps I am all too easily amused?

The first tracks I encountered were coyote...lots of coyote.  In and out of the scrub, back and forth in a serpentine manner; these skulking creatures wound their way in search of preferred scent.  Smaller prey had made zig-zag patterns which the coyote seemed to zero in on...probably rabbits by the look of them.  The coyote seemed to have covered quite a bit of territory, for the tracks were numerous and the meanderings ceaseless.  Whether or not the rabbit ever became a meal was not in evidence, but its attempts at evasion were obvious.  I marveled at the tenacity which the coyote tracks displayed in their relentless, nosey pursuit.

Next to pique my interest were the Whitetail prints.  Plentiful and much different than the coyote; these animals walked gracefully amongst the trees and bushes.  Droppings and deer "beds" could be seen and in one extremely curious spot, it appeared that something caused one animal to leap an incredible distance.  (see image) It covered over 15 feet from jump-off point to landing!  I was impressed.

It seemed that even the tiniest of woodsy creatures came out to forage after the heavy snowfall.  Small clumps of thistle and other grass plants which still poked through the cover, provided an oasis dinner table for these mini-mammals of the forest.  Their wandering and winding tracks twisted back and forth in search of sustinance.

The shadows grew longer as I continued to examine the secret stories told by the remnants of these unique footprints.  I wondered as I walked back to the WPT, whether the "tracks" we humans leave (as we move about our days), appear anywhere near as deliberate as these in the snow of Havenwoods, and would anyone even care to notice?

Here is a nice desktop image in high resolution if you'd like...

Thanks for reading and have a great day of discovery!!

Birdstud