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| Chat - Sunday, December 25th, 2011.; MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 25 2011, 04:32 AM (929 Views) | |
| Artsy Mom | Dec 26 2011, 08:42 PM Post #31 |
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Eagle Guardian
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Lily the Black Bear - Update December 25, 2011 Christmas Day Hike Just before I headed out for a hike, an 8-point buck walked through my yard. First time I’d seen him. Then as I headed down my driveway, I saw where a grouse had come in for a landing—leaving wing marks in the snow and neat ‘stitch’ tracks as it walked along the edge of the woods. Today, I repeated the hike I did last Christmas Day, but without snowshoes this time. Last year, the snow was so deep I was in trouble when I fell while clambering over a log. I had to take the snowshoes off to get up. This year, I enjoyed the freeing feeling of hiking without them and had energy enough to hike around the beaver pond rather than just to it. I’m glad I did. Beaver ponds are great areas to explore. Some people feel beavers destroy habitat, but I’ve always felt they create new habitat. It’s all a matter of perspective—and where the beavers have taken up residence. This pond is deep in the woods—an ideal location. I found the beavers gone—perhaps of their own accord but more likely trapped out. The pond had drained sometime after ice had formed. Huge areas were covered with 2 inches of ice with nothing but air beneath. Of course I had to find that out the hard way. 's mink tracks and slides...............mink slide When I reached solid ground I quickly found mink tracks. The mink must have been active this morning. The tracks had only a bit of this morning’s snow in them. As I backtracked to verify my identification of the tracks, I found the mink had climbed partway up a leaning tree. I thought it was odd but, checking closer, I found a fresh-killed vole stashed there. After stashing the vole, the mink had moved upslope and appeared to be hunting red squirrels. 's mink tracks............................vole left in tree by mink As I circumnavigated the pond, I continued to run into the mink tracks and found several good ‘slides.’ Minks slide nearly as much as otters. I did find some old otter slides and one fairly good otter track under a log where it was protected from the fresh snow. 's bear bitten balsam.............bear hair on white pine sapling I pushed on a short ways to the bear trees I had found last year. The balsam has fresh bites from this past year. A large section of bark has been pulled off and the wood splintered by bears’ canines. The white pine sapling was in much the same disarray as I remember from last year, though the hair on it appeared to be fresh from this year. The markings were likely done by a male during last spring’s mating season. These making trees are in Dot’s territory and only a quarter mile from her den of last winter. otter track So, deer, grouse, red squirrel, snowshoe hare, mink, otter—but at the end of the day it really is all about the bears. 's Christmas Eve Candle..............lights in the night I promised pictures of the Christmas Eve candle-lighting. With so little snow it was very different than last year. Someone had the idea of lighting up the front yard. Others lined the driveway with candles. I placed some out back where I could see them from the kitchen window. At 3 AM many were still burning brightly. Merry Christmas! —Sue Mansfield, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center |
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8:51 AM Jul 13