Thaws melt snow tracks

The Minnesota Weather Guide marks today as the first day that normal temperatures reach 32℉ as Spring slowly approaches. The weather app on my phone says we should get got there this afternoon. Now, instead of continuing a trend of slowly rising temperatures, we can expect to drop back into the freezer for the next ten days or so. Maybe longer? Sigh. Will the tenacity of Winter make Spring all the sweeter when it arrives. Today's slightly milder temperatures suggest that will be the case.

deer track without the deer

Photo by J. Harrington

While researching muskrats yesterday, an interesting web page full of snow tracks popped up. Since our local snow is softening but remains on the ground, in fact, last night it got added to, today's probably a good time to share it with you. With luck, in a month or so it will be useless until next Winter. The Minnesota DNR has a nice set of tracking sheets that can help children learn about some Minnesota common animal tracks. I'm sure that we once again have a runny rabbit living under the front porch this Winter, not from the tracks (s)he leaves in the snow but the little round brown pellets left on the snow.

turkey tracks without the turkey

Photo by J. Harrington

Deeper snow, like the 12"+ we have in the front yard, makes it hard to identify tracks. Good tracking snow is only an inch or so, or even less, deep. We went back later in the day yesterday, when there was more light, but couldn't find any tracks left by the muskrat. That doesn't mean we didn't see one. Ted Kooser tells us about a similar experience in one of his Winter Morning Walks: one hundred postcards to Jim Harrison.

january 26

Overcast, cold and still.

A hundred yards ahead,
a coyote crosses the road at a lope,
stops on a rise, looks back,
runs on. It is less like
the shape of an animal running
than the shadow of something flying.
When I get to the place where I saw it,
no tracks in the snow.

********************************************
Thanks for visiting. Come again when you can.
Please be kind to each other while you can.