Happy New Years!

Welcome 2015!  After Dale got off from work this afternoon, we took the girls out to the lake for a walk.  There's less than an inch of snow on the ground.   I found myself watching the tracks in the snow.  

Pheasant or Turkey Tracks

There was a bird: pheasant or turkey. Dale and I disagreed and since I've seen both birds in the area but I've never looked at their tracks.

Deer Tracks

There was a deer and its fawn. It was fairly obvious where the deer paths were at.  Once in awhile, the deer walked on the human path but the deer paths through the woods were also well tromped down but much narrower.

Deer Path

I was also mesmerized by the natural beauty of this defective tree.  It's character shows despites its defects.  The leaves of the tree itself and the brush around it manage to hide it's character in the summertime.  

A tree with character

Dale said these tiny paw tracks are fox tracks.  They could easily be a wild cat after all there are a couple of farms nearby.  In this part of the country, many farms have cats that roam freely outside.

Fox tracks

These tiny prints that look like miniature shoes are created by a small rabbit.  I mentioned to Dale that I thought they were a "baby" rabbit and he pointed out that with the scarcity of food in this wooded area, it might just be an undersized rabbit.  

Bunny tracks

There were a few spots that I saw these close itsy bitsy trails of tiny tracks that started and ended without any way of telling where the animal had come from.  There wasn't a hole on either end of the trail.  It makes me wonder, did the critter ride on the back on another critter and just drop off there?  We were walking with the dogs, so I didn't have much time to investigate the surroundings.  Maybe in jumped off a branch that was now bare or climbed a tree?  It definitely was not walking in the straightest path possible.

Chipmunk tracks?

Around the lake was a variety of Human tracks or probably more appropriate "Man" tracks. Tracks that crossed over each other caused by pick-ups, 4-wheelers, fish houses, snow mobiles, and people walking.  With the temperatures in the mid 20's most of the day and the clouds breaking up and allowing the sun to peak through, it made the holiday of New Years Day a very big temptation for ice-fisherman.  The lake was packed!



Human tracks

I prefer fishing in a boat.  But as I reflect, I have never seen this many people out on the lake during the summertime.  Maybe because there are so many skiers out on the lake.