The snow records the past
Submitted Photo
The snow holds stories - like how this mouse came to an abrupt end when a hawk landed on it.
The soft powder of the snow holds a record of the past. Every animal leaves a trace of its passing. There may be the perfect, delicate prints of a mouse that ran past flailing the snow with its tail to leave tiny random lines behind each track. Best of all are the times when the tracks tell a story. I love to follow animal tracks to see what the animals have been up to. Some trackers advise against following tracks, since you may end up chasing the animal instead of tracking them. In a cold winter, this may be the difference between them eating and not eating, living or dying. The best thing to do is to “backtrack” and see where the animal has been instead of following and scaring it. My enthusiasm still gets the best of me sometimes and I want to know where the animals go. I once found a spot where a fox had chased and killed a rabbit, packing down the snow in a huge area.
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When Stephanie Frucella and her brother, Stephen, were children, their family couldn’t afford opportunities like the wonderful summer day camps now offered by the Audubon Center and Sanctuary.
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We would like to be your community nature center. We would like to share our passion for nature with you, and have you inspire us to improve and serve you bette.
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