Tuesday, February 22, 2011

While We Were Sleeping

When we went to bed last night, it was quite impossible not to notice the newly fallen, pristine, white snow in the garden . Lit up by the moonlight, the landscape was as visible as if it were daylight. We looked out the window for a few minutes , hoping to see something interesting, but the garden seemed deserted. Looking at the footprints in garden this morning, it's easy to see that a lot went on out there during the night while we were sleeping. Two sets of tracks come from the pines , down the hill, and into the garden. One set is a straight double register , likely a fox. I 'm guessing the female. The other set was more exuberant with some prints at significant distance apart indicating a lot more speed. Notice how the paths cross!


There are many interesting marks in the snow. One can imagine the foxes were having quite a bit of fun in the garden.


Here and there more single register tracks were to be found.


These tracks are my favorite. I wish I had been awake to watch and see just exactly what those two foxes were doing atop the stone wall. I know from having watched foxes mate here in the past that February is their time. Whatever they were up to, Ed and I are both sorry we missed the party! Talk about watching the wildlife!

1 comment:

Joyce said...

Foxes sound fun. Tonight we were sprayed by a skunk. Who knew they are out in the frigid wintertime. I don't ever remember this happening before this time of year. Sarah is livid as she can't sleep because the house smells so bad.