Animal footprint stories told in the snow...

One of my favorite things about living near the country is the diversity of animals we see. Flocks of wild turkeys in the field next door. A deer startled and running off through the trees. Red-tailed hawks with a kill. A raccoon eating wheat spilled across the road at the grain elevator. A skunk down in a creek bed. Snakes, turtles, frogs, squirrels, lizards, rabbits. Birds and bugs of every kind.

We hear a pack of coyotes howling in the distance some nights and we see in the dirt tracks where deer - more than one- have come all the way into our front yard and crossed our sidewalk.

What I love about the snow is that even if we don't get to see these creatures in person, it tells us who has been by. I've noticed in recent days around town that rabbits hop basically in a straight line right to an object of some kind, a tree, bush, house. To hide, I guess. But birds criss-cross each other's paths and walk in random directions.

I can see where cats and dogs have trotted by and of course our path to and from the sledding hill. The snow tells a story, who has been there, what they did, where they went. How cool is that?

Bunny!

 

Birds!