Mystery tracks in the snow.

On a recent snowshoe outing in our woods in Northwestern Minnesota I came across a track in the fresh fallen snow.  As I stood there looking at it I was unable to think of what kind of animal would make such a track.

The track was continuous and had a half round shape as if it had been made by a fat snake. I rarely see a track that I cannot identify because there is a limited amount of wildlife in my woods, especial in the winter.

With my curiosity aroused I started to follow the track and then noticed a couple more of the same type. After a short walk I came to what I realized was the beginning of the tracks and took another photo. ( See next photo below)

This spot was very helpful because it indicated that some type of bird had landed in the snow. The

   Photo shows that the bird approached from the left and marks of it two feet can be seen to the left     of the hole in the snow, showing where it landed. This hole was deeper than the rest of the tracks. A bird when landing sets its wings and makes a downward beat to slow the decent. The long marks in the snow to the left of the landing hole shows where the edge of the left wing touched the snow. Five distinct marks show where the wing tip feathers made a light mark.

The imprint and track showed me it was a large bird and had to be a Ruff Grouse as at least six presently reside in these woods. In normal winter conditions a Ruff Grouse walks on the surface of the snow with ease, and rarely sinks in more than an inch.  This bird was sinking in at least six inches and was having to push forward with its chest to make any forward movement in the soft snow and this resulted in the unusual tracks.

The third photo shows the landing site of another grouse that came from the direction at the top of the photo.  Again the marks of the feet can be seen at the tope of the photo while the wing tip feather marks are seen on the left side of the photo.  As the birds wade off, they sink so low in the snow that the bottom parts of the folded wings leave drag marks in the snow.

Once I felt satisfied that the tracks were left by Ruff Grouse I tried to understand why these birds were sinking so deep on the snow.  As I  thought back to the beginning of our recent weather I believed I had the answer

A few days ago we received two or three inches of light fluffy snow the slowly fell during the night and early morning. This was followed later in the day by strong winds that ranged from thirty to forty five miles an hour and created a ground blizzard across our region.

The winds stripped the loose snow off the fields until it was airborne and blown in vast clouds across the landscape.  Where ever the winds blew across wooded areas the winds were slowed and the snow settled in the woods. As the storm drew to a close the winds died down and these vast clouds of snow settled gently in the protected woods.

The ground blizzard resulted in the top five or six inches of newly deposited snow to be so light and fluffy it would not support the grouse and they sank chest deep and had to struggle to move about.
The fact that the grouse experienced a mild fall and were rather fat and heavy contributed to their problem.

The mystery of the strange tracks in the snow was solved.

On a Fresh Trail.

The year started with a blizzard, so the drive home from the New Year Celebration was not pleasant.

The driving snow made visibility very poor, but bad as it was I could not help thinking about snowshoeing.

The high winds have a tendency to strip the snow off the fields, but it builds up in the woods.

Saturday was spent digging out the walks and cleaning the long driveway. The next day, Mya could hardly wait until I strapped on the snowshoes and headed for the woods trail.

The fresh snow added four or five inches of new snow but the packed trail underneath made for easy travel.

A snow storm wipes the slate clean, so that any new animal tracks show up easily. I noticed that the bush rabbits had packed down some of their main trails but nothing else seemed to be moving about.

We opened up about half a mile of the main trail and then came back the same route to pack it further.

In the days ahead we will open the other trails as time and weather permits. In spite of the high winds the snow continues to build up on the logs and trees that are leaning, or are on the ground.

While snow is commonly considered white, to the eye of the painter, blue in various shades is the main ingredient.
　

A Great Sense of Smell

Years ago I was snowshoeing down the middle of a small river in Northern Minnesota. It was early in the morning and the snow was deep with a fresh layer on top. The only sign of life was the track of three coyotes that were traveling one behind the other, also in the middle of the river.

Because of the recent snow fall I knew the tracks were only a few hours old. As I followed their trail I could see that they were not wasting any time and no doubt were heading for a favorite safe spot to spend the day.

The river was about forty feet wide with high wooded banks on each side. The river was winding so it was difficult for me to see ahead very far. I never did see the coyotes.

After following the coyote tracks for some distance I noticed one of them left the others and made a sudden sharp left turn then stopped after about twenty feet, but still a few feet from the bank. The other coyote tracks continued on without change. I turned aside and followed the single track.

The snow was flat and undisturbed from one side of the river to the other. The coyote had stopped and dug a hole down into the snow for about a foot, then continued on back to the main trail and fell in behind the first two coyotes.

Curiously, I dug down into the bottom of the hole and found an empty beer bottle. When I held it up to the light I could see something inside. When I looked down through the open end I saw a dead field mouse.

The mouse had squeezed into the open bottle because it had traction in the snow. However, when it tried to get back out of the bottle it had no traction on the smooth glass and found itself trapped, and died.

The amazing part was the coyote smelled the dead mouse from at least twenty feet away, in a bottle, and buried under a foot of snow.

It thought it was a great demonstration of a coyote’s sense of smell.

The Woods trail

I strapped on the old snowshoes the other day and made a trip through the woods. Our latest snowfall of five inches came after a fall of six inches and then an inch. All told we have had 12 inches so it was time to break a trail.

During the winter the snow lies deeper in the woods where the wind cannot move it about too much. In the open areas the wind has a tendency to strip the snow away and pile it up in hard drifts along the edge of woods. The woods trail also give protection from the cold winds that will soon arrive.

As the winter progresses and the new snow fall gets packed down, it can get firm enough to walk on without the snow shoes. Once the trail is firm the dog loves to race down it as a free spirit. Occasionally she will forget and leave the trail when she catches sight of a bush rabbit. In the first leap she plunges into the snow and ends up almost immobile. As the rabbit dashes off over the surface, the dog bounds forward in great leaps and quickly tires in the chest deep snow.
She stands and watches the rabbit disappear, then plows her way back to the trail looking rather dejected.

Before the winter is half over she understands that it is a waste of time and energy to leave the trail.
Another snowstorm is on the way later in the afternoon so we plan to hit the trail shortly and pack the snow down a little more. Each outing we extend the trail further into the woods and by spring we will have multiple trails in different directions.

On the last trip we saw deer, rabbit, ruff grouse and squirrel tracks. The packed snow and grouse droppings on top of a big log indicates he uses it to drum from. He has used the location for years and has been spotted doing so on numerous occasions.

I see fresh snowflakes in the air so it is time to hit the trail.