So winter it seems has finally settled in . 6 inches of packed snow on the road and no plow in sight. Someone has gone before and kindly made tracks to follow. Yes people actually live on this road including myself. Besides the daily fun of driving there are the revealing tracks of night time visitors .
Even with my handy copy of Scats and Tracks I am still not sure what has been in the driveway. It could be a mountain lion or a wolf. Both are abundant in the area . The claws are evident that leans toward a wolfe but the third toe leads for a mountain lion. The track is the size of a baseball at least. My women's size 9 boot imprint is to the right of the track . So who is traveling the drive any way?
More tracks front or back I couldn't tell but along the same trail. This could be why I head to the garage in haste on my early mornings before the sun is up hmmmm.
Finally after a long day of grey and snow we are rewarded with a bit of sun before the sun disappears for the night. Although winter still lies deep there is the occassional hint that spring is around the corner. More bird calls and more faster melting between snow storms. More later.
Definitely a mountain lion
ReplyDeleteDo you think ? I was waffling back and forth as they say in the book that the claws are generally not seen in the tracks. I followed it up the drive and into the woods. It was slippery so I suppose it could have been using the claws to keep it's footing. I won't tell you that the pictures are from 15 feet of the back door. We do have some Mountain lion about. Also some Canada lynx. Kat saw a lynx on her way home a week or so but they are not so big. These were pretty big tracks and the the female lions are about 120 pounds . Thanks for your input.
ReplyDeleteoh my goodness - throw on the yak trax and hustle to the car! national geographic up close and personal... and my cats get all worked up by a squirrel, chipmunk or raccoon! do your animals respond to these visitors at all? or are they just accustomed to the activity?
ReplyDeleteno the dogs go wild every now and again. Now I know why . And I thought they were concerned with bambi cruising through the yard.
ReplyDelete