December 7, 2003
BRUCE TRAIL - off of Dunby Road
Meeting report & photos by Alexis Burnett
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Skeet, James and I met on this fine Sunday morning on the
Bruce Trail access located on Dunby Road in Mono Township. The Sun was
shining, the chickadees were singing and there was a calmness in the
air. We were ready to explore this area and learn from the animals
through their tracks that they left in the snow. |
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About 20 feet from the car we came upon these beautiful
Gray squirrel tracks and stopped to investigate, looking for answers
to such questions as who left them, When were they made, what time
of day was it?
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Not much farther down the trail we stumbled upon
another mystery. There were many Box Elder seeds that had been fed
on and dropped from the tree to the soft snow below? Was this sign
of a bird? A mammal? Hmmmm? Who feeds on these seeds we wondered? We
came up with a few possibilities, What do you think judging by the
chew/bite marks? |
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Along the trail we seen a lot of Eastern Cottontail sign
including tracks, browse, trails and scat. We did some measuring of some
of the tracks and talked about some of the differences between Snowshoe
Hare and Cottontail tracks, habitats, etc... We also looked at some of
the human tracks on the trail and talked about aging and other aspects
of tracking ourselves and fellow Homo sapiens.
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We then came upon a place where a Cottontail had been
eaten by at least one coyote. There were approx. 3-4 coyote trails
in the area and at least one of them dined on rabbit that evening.
There was lots of hair around including the tail as well as part of
the intestines along with coyote scat.
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As we moved into the large meadow at the top of the
north side of the Hockley Valley we could see sign of many mammals
moving and feeding in the area. There were deer tracks criss-crossing
the meadow along with Cottontails and Coyotes. Many birds had been
taking advantage of the seeds left in the different plants including
viper's bugloss and milkweed. The Milkweed plant is a huge larder
for many species of birds and mammals at this time of year (not to
mention a great cordage plant). |
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We came upon a couple deer beds that were roughly 2 days
old and also another large and very smelly coyote scat. Boy the coyotes
sure are working this are, I wonder why though? Not like there is a
shortage of food in this specific area! There were some fairly fresh(1-3
days old), coyote tracks, including some super-splayed tracks made while
trying to stay on top of the snow.
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By the afternoon
the sum had raised the temperature a little, but it was hovering
around the freezing mark in the shade. We each took a few
minutes alone to soak it up and revel in the beauty of the
surrounding hills. In the valley bottom there were lots of deer
and cottontail tracks along with some "hunting" coyotes and
foxes. Just in the cedars a little there was also a porcupine
resting high up in a Hemlock tree. |
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Near the spring area there was evidence of something that
was digging up a cattail? The only tracks around were cottontail and
deer, did one of these animals dig here or did we miss something all
together? There was also some small Mustelide tracks here too? Were they
made by a Least, Short or Long-Tailed Weasel we wondered? How can you
tell these animals apart? Closer to the stream there was a lot of sign
of the deer eating the water-cress and water mint growing in the water,
Mmmm Mmmmm Good! Cottontails were also feeding on the Horsetails as
well. Throughout the day we noticed that many trees were dropping their
seeds, including: Cedar, White Spruce, Ironwood and Yellow Birch among
others. What a huge food source these seeds make up! Next we came across
some beautiful Red Fox Tracks and followed them to a smelly scent post
that was marked by the Fox. No mistaking that smell! Most of
our time was spent off-trail and we were very thankful for the animals
who left their tracks for us to follow. We all learned many lessons and
were able to look a little deeper into not only the lives of these
animals, but to within ourselves as well. As we returned to the vehicles
the Sun was setting in the WSW and the Moon (soon to be Full) was rising
in the ENE. As this day drew to a close so too did our time together.
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I would like to thank Skeeter and James for sharing this
special day with me and would like to encourage all of you who have an
interest in Nature to come and explore our world with us on our next
Tracking Day. Until then... |
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