Trailcam tales

The fisher has been back. I was quite excited to see the tracks in the snow. They are big paws!



When you study animal tracks, you are supposed to look at the distance between one paw and another. This is research from a previous post.

This specialist says to:

• Establish the Line of Travel - heel in back, leading toe in front
• Length of Track
• Width of the track -from outer toe to outer
• Stride- toe to toe
• Straddle - distance from the centre
• Pitch- orientation of the paw print towards the line of travel

I thought this was unusual. When you look at the end of the video, below, you'll see why!



It marks the box!



I'm glad I switched the trailcam to video! What the surprise when coyote spots the lights, twice!




I'd thrown out some of JB's dry organic whole wheat crackers. I left the box down there, it'll decompose. Also down there, raccoons!



The deer, including Pickle Stabber, jake, and a pair of twin bucks, and the raccoons, squirrels and mice are enjoying the pumpkins.

Up at the house, we're happily living in the present moment. We watch news until we get caught up, then have to turn it off.

Australian Fires: "look for the helpers"

Canada has sent firefighters to help. It's quite complex, with the winds, and the pyrocumulonimbis clouds that have been creating its own weather. Horrific visuals everywhere.

Muskoka has a friend living in Australia, former mayor Susan Pryke. She has been keeping us informed of the dangers in Narooma on Facebook. They'd moved into a  hotel in town, where it is safer. They lost power, and send updates on a limited basis.

Her latest post, 10 hours ago, has good news:

Hi everyone. The good news is that the fire did not reach Narooma. In fact it did not advance much at all. But I am weary of the looming threat of it should the winds and weather combine as they did the last 2 days. We are ok. Our house is ok. We are all allowed to return home. We have no power, no internet or mobile telephone coverage but they are working hard to restore those. Food and supply convoys are on the way to reprovision the town. I can only contact the wider world through a wifi portal in the centre of town so do not be alarmed if you do not hear from me for long stretches. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. I think they may have worked because we truly thought we'd have the fire on our doorstep last night. ❤❤❤❤❤ Love to you all.

Then there are the animals. I heard on the radio about a koala rescue, Port Macquarie Koala Hospital (Facebook). They did a GoFundMe page, asking for $25,000 for water stations. Donations have reached $3.2 million. The water stations they are building help all of the animals.