Monday 4 December 2023

Tracking in the snow!

Saturday night I was in bed reading when I heard wild barking. Not the normal coyote yips. It was scary, and loud. I thought maybe they'd had a kill. Cinnamon was snuggled at my feet, and he stood up in shock. Sunday morning Joseph Brian was doing his usual walk and he looked, but didn't see any signs of a carcass. I decided to go out, too, knowing that there was a storm on the way and anything out there would be buried under snow.

Cinnamon was a great helper.



It was above zero and the snow we had was quite wet. 



Cinnamon helped me search for evidence, but we found nothing. See him on the fence!

From there we searched for tracks. I found some large coyote tracks.




We searched up and down the hill beside the shed. By now it had begun to rain. Oh yuck! It was tricky tracking anything.


We are surrounded by wetland, and there are a few paths the critters take. We ended up going to The Point, me and my cat. You can see, how there is no snow in the forest, as I stood in the wetland to take a photo. 

This is the track that leads right into the wetland. It looks like bobcat tracks, I think. They are much smaller. 



I have a working theory that one of our big coyotes met our bobcat, which I only have on a short trailcam video. They avoid humans at all costs, both the coyotes and bobcats.


Sunday afternoon, in the rain, King Charles IV licked up all the bird see under the feeder.

I had a nice Facetime with Jesse, Bryony, and Cluny, who were at the cottage. 


They were going back to the city soon, since the girls are in a Vancouver panto, Beauty and the Beast. Both parents are trained actors, although Jesse is in finance these days. 

We hunkered down, JB by the fire in the basement, and me with my Christmas RomComs upstairs. I visited Norway, and very much enjoyed the adventure as we watched the rain fall outside. My Norwegian Holiday (2023) it successfully showed us some of the language, culture, food, and traditions of their holiday season. It was quite lovely, with some Nordic actors with lovely accents. 


OK, busses are cancelled today. It is a snow day, although the problem is the ice underneath the snow. Road conditions are horrid. My only job is to get the garbage 100m down the driveway by 8 a.m. Wish me luck! 

12 comments:

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
Good luck! 😁... YAM xx

Patio Postcards said...

Good luck with the garbage. I do not feel safe either walking or driving when there is a layer of ice under the snow. Oh a Bobcat, such a beautiful creature. Regionally two dogs were attacked on the weekend by a pack of coyotes. Community outrage is flying around. The dogs were unleashed roaming in a wooded area known for coyotes. I am glad the dogs got immediate vet attention & the neck bite wounds are stitched, but I do feel for the coyotes having their territory invaded. Balancing domestic life with wild life.

RedPat said...

Lots of creatures around at your place. Cinnamon must have felt safe so there must have been no danger around you.

Divers and Sundry said...

Your wildlife is exciting! Bobcats and coyotes and deer, oh, my! The Christmas movie sounds good.

Rain said...

Jenn, getting the garbage out in ice and snow is NOT a fun task! Interesting tracking!

Anvilcloud said...

I'd put my guess on the bobcat winning over just one coyote. But if it were a regular cat or two coyotes, I guess it would be a different story.

Barbara Rogers said...

What, you don't have a set of pinons for your boots when there's ice? Joking, and not even sure that's the right term...the cleat like things that can be clipped over boots for mountain climbing I think. I'm sure the garbage got out fine, and you slid back inside a successful domestic servant!

Hena Tayeb said...

LUCK!
Our temps are still mild.. in the 50's. I don't think I am ready for ice and snow just yet.

Nancy J said...

100 metres is a long way in the snow and ice, you need a quad bike with snow tyres !!!

KarenW said...

The roads were horrible here this morning. The plow came down our country lane twice. Renfrew, Arnprior and Carp got an awful dump, around 35 cm! We got about 20. I don't think we will bother getting the big blower out. It's that wet stuff that likes to clog everything up and there are some plus temperatures this way the rest of the week.

Red said...

I like a mystery but I also like an ending. There's no ending for the search of the mysterious critter.

Cloudia said...

You are such a frontier woman! Glad you don't have to go anywhere in the bad weather today. Aloha friend