So I took wanted to get a chunk of special moss while I was out this morning and take pictures of the marsh marigolds in the swamp by the river. I scooped up the moss and at the cabin deposited the bag, tool and gloves and headed down the ridge, across a bridge to a strip of land that boarders the river and was underwater last week. This is a great place to see footprints. See how many you can figure out in just this one picture.
Squirrel, raccoon and coyotte? That is what I thought, but look at this print closer. The toenails sometimes show with kitty prints when there is mud or they are grabbing. The pad of a kitty (not housecat) has 2 bumps at top. A dog has only one. For example a dogs pad (by the toes) is like an upside down V, a large cat is shaped like an M.
Sometimes prints can look like an M but are not, but every print here was and M. Now look at this picture. Big kitty.
Now the reason I told you about the moss and leaving my stuff is now I was out way back in no-person land and no item to judge size of print with. This is a pretty big print and the largest bobcat print I have ever seen, but it would be on the small size for cougar. So.....now I will head back and take a tape measure to help with indenification.
Hope the bear spray works on mad lost cows.
(oh, there were goose and turkey prints in some of the pictures too.)
Ok, another update. I went back with the tape measure to measure the cat prints. On the way I did not see a cow, but I did find a nice "pie" left cooling for me. YUCK. Cow in the woods, that is a good one. Our property is fenced, so either he wandered a long way and jumped the fence, or he swam across the river. Mystery.....
Speaking of mystery, now the more evidence I get on the cat thing, the more questions I have. The prints were exactly as big as I thought. 2 1/2". My book states that bobcat print is 1 3/4" long and cougar is 3" long. So....we still do not know. Here are some pictures, notice they are fading already. When I saw them this morning they were ultra fresh.
Sorry the dog would not hold the tape measure, but you can figure it out.
Looks like the raccoon went through again. Look closely and you will see its claw prints too. The mud makes a really nice clear print when fresh.
Found a reference to Bobcat prints which stated they can be up to 8cm across
Resin
Thanks for the help Resin, I only have one animal track guide. Of course the animals do not read and don't always follow the books. I am leaning towards large bobcat, although it is still possible for a cougar, as the new ones to an area tend to be the smaller males. I always look at this area for fresh prints, as it tends to show the tracks well. After many days of just mud, today showed quite a bit of activity.
Oh, just looking at my book again and changing cm to inches. For the others, like myself, that never learned the metric system, 8 cm is a little over 3"
Resin, did your book also have lenght of the track? This is what I was measuring and the reference I was using. I wonder if they were also including fur in that reference, as the prints I have seen in the snow also have fuzzy fur marks around them. Still, 8cm would be a really big bobcat. Sure would like to get a look at this one.
So it looks like you may have a young cougar stalking a lost cow! :D
Lot's of adventures in your woods. Thank you so much for the photos of all the wildlife footprints.
Yeah, if you find a dismembered, 3/4-eaten cow in those woods, it's definitely time to stay away!!
Resin
I was thinking the same thing. Last night we were walking and on the way back DH whistled for the dog, up ahead out of the woods comes a small cow (350 Lbs) black with a white face. She started to come to us, then darted to the fence line and hopped the fence. DH called around and about an hour later a fellow showed up to the house and gave this story: Seems that Sunday afternoon they moved some young cows to a different area. This heffer suddenly bolted and ran to the lake (1 mile). They watched her as she went into the water and started to swim. Trying to quickly secure something to follow her with, they lost sight of her and searched for an hour. They assumed she had drowned. She swam quite a ways across the lake, came out a few houses down the road and wandered into our woods, where it looks like she enjoyed the evening and all of Monday. They searched again last night until dark, but it looks like she went north from our place. The fellow is trying to figure how to get her all the way back when she is found. Quite a story. One mystery solved.
Your stories are almost as good as my favorite show 24. I can't wait to see the next adventure you are on. I don't get out much so this is living through your eyes.
Glad to help. Talk about not getting out much. I don't have tv, so I have never seen that show. The only place I get out is in the woods. I figure while I still am healthy enough to do it, I should walk and roam out there all I can. Getting older, ya know. This is how much I get into the outside world. I once went to a super walmart and stood there just gaping at all the stuff. It was too overwhelming. I stood in the dish soap isle and was pondering why there needed to be so many kinds of dish soap of the same brand. I want to know how someone got paid to think up something like "aroma therapy" dish soap. And who is a sucker enough to buy it. Or how about the "brown sugar flavored, sugar free oatmeal"? Do not get me started. It is best if I stay a hermit.
cp I hope you never get TV, just keep entertaining us with your stories. I'm probably the sucker who would buy it - it sounds wonderful to me!
I am one of those that sticks to the old ones that I have used for a long time. I have however changed to tide free and the new fabric softners that have no smell.
Makshi,
Yes, I stick to the tried and true standbys, but my problem is that they are hard to find. You have to stand in the isle and hunt through all the other stuff to find them. I hate shopping. I guess I am spoiled with the online stuff. If there is something you want, you type it in, find the price you want to pay and click on it. What a fuddy duddy I am.
Masgard,
Haven't had tv for going into the 6th year now. Didn't hook up the cable when we moved and haven't missed it. I thought it would be a big problem. I was quite the tv junkie, but as I remember I used to mostly flip channels. People say "but you could get an antenna" Yeah, but why? Sitting in front of this little screen about an hour a day is quite enough.
I'm not much on TV. Like to watch History channel or Discovery and follow the Atlanta Braves with hubby but don't bother with it otherwise. Like you cpart, I like getting outside as much as I can. I think the great outdoors is the "original entertainment." Remember that old song, "In the Year 2525?" We're getting there faster than I like to see. And I don't think you're a fuddy duddy. I hate shopping too. I'm happiest if I can order it online. I absolutely HATE having to go to Wally World once a week (and fight all those Walmartians) for groceries. I do grow as much as I can in my garden and hubby and I bring home as much deer meat as we can every year. At least we know what's in the veggies I grow and the deer meat we get from the woods!
I tend to rant some times. No one listens in the woods. ha.
The wildflowers are starting to pop up, the black flies have subsided, but now the mosquitoes are in full bloom. Don't like the deet, but you cannot even enjoy a walk without it. Last night we were covered in the things trying to bite. Reminded me of the old Off comercial with the guy with his hand in the clear box of sketters. If you were walking it wasn't as bad, stop to look at something and you were breathing them in. Even walking, hubby had his back covered with them trying to get through his rain coat. And because mosquitoes are maybe the number one killer of humans, I will use the nasty spray.
cpart, have you tried any of the herbal mosquito repellents?
Yes, they do not work here. I have also tried fabric softner sheets, Avon, etc. Deet works, then wash it off when you get back. Probably could use that extra shower anyway.
The wood thrush has been singing to me my whole walk now. The pink lady slippers are showing buds and the indian cucumber found last year is coming up double this year.
The dog was crazy last night on the ridge. He went back and forth tracking something. He continued until we told him to stop. He was so excited. Could have been anything. We saw no tracks and he is not talking.
I did find one kitty track in the trail where the deer hair was found weeks ago. This trail is through the swamp where the heavy scratching is. We laid cedar logs to make a coragated path, through the mud and water, so prints are pretty hard to see. You have to watch where you walk and look down alot. I saw the print, and started to scan the trees. I have to teach myself to look up more. Although I was looking up in the morning and steped right in the middle of a cow pie. There was only one in the trail, and I knew it was there. What a dummy.
No cow tracks for 2 days. I hope the cow got home.
For anyone that is intrested I am going to try to link to my thread with pictures I have taken walking in the woods this month.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/719216/
This is a great thread. Your woods are beautiful and remind me of where I grew up.
Please don't depend on your bear spray for protection. My uncle had a run in with a bear, and he sprayed it with bear spray. The bear attacked him even after taking a face full of the stuff. Uncle was in the hospital for a month. Please carry your gun!
Thanks for the warning. I guess I am afraid that a wounded bear would be even worse. Bears are really hard to kill and yes, even with bear mace if they are mad they will get you. It is just another tool to help. I carry a phone, walking stick, camera, bear attack repelant, and have the dog.
This morning as I was walking into the "area" I saw a lot of prints just smaller than the dog's tracks. His track is 4- 4 1/2". This track was maybe 3-3 1/2". Like I said before, this area is hard to see a print clearly, but it was pretty kitty like in shape. So I call out "Hello, I am a human, not tastey, not a deer, I have mace, I am woman hear me roar." Then I walked through. (I thought I heard a cougar laugh.)
I just wanted to add that I thank everyone for the support, advise and kind words. I am glad that others are enjoying the woods too. It is nice to hear from people with like intrests. I hope I can bring a little of my woods to people who have never seen some of these things, or like others who have fond memories of walking in the woods. We all have been having some fun here and that is what it is all about.
This is a wonderful thread! I'd love to go walking through your woods with you. Too bad it's so far away. I want to go to Cheryl's and feed the coons, I want to go to Moose Jaw and see the animals with Pam and so many, many other places I've seen here...oh how I'd like to win the lottery!
Funny how you managed to step in the only cow pie out there, isn't it?(Snicker) Fate, I guess
We do get to "visit" all these places. That is what is so great about DG.
You get to see the best parts, no mosquitoes, no cold or heat, you see the sunlight at the right angles, the flowers in bloom and the birds at their best.
And no cow pies!
CP, thanks for the link, Ireally enjoyed seeing the mosses .They looked so lush and freshcompared to the suburbs!
Thanks, I am glad I added the link then.
I love this thread!!! It always makes me laugh! I'm glad to see it's still going. I have been nonstop busy and if it hadn't rained this morn I'd be outside all day.
Cow in the woods, cowpie in the path. Too funny!
Hi there.
Yes, I have been busy too. The weather is great here. Working on many outdoor projects, but need a break for lunch.
I found some bear tracks this morning just past the swamp. They were in hard sand and not real easy to see, but I found 3 in a row and was enough to show they were bear. Our black bears are quite small around here. Most adults are only 200 lbs. or so. I am sure they are still mighty dangerous, but they are extremely shy. That is the way I like them. I have seen footprints, deep claw marks on trees, and once a big black be-hind hauling through the ferns as fast as it could run. That is close enough for me.
Whew, me too:)). All this talk of ''eating'' has me hungry for dinner. Time to get out the big salad fixins. Later all!
Do you ever walk with bells attached to your clothes or walking stick? It sounds silly, but it does let the bears know you are there. The usually will only bother you if you surprise them or get between them and their cubs. (Of course, if your lab is like mine he makes more noise than a whole church full of bells). If you are so close that you can use pepper spray, you are really in trouble. The best thing to do if one stands his ground is wave your arms and make loud noises, so the bear thinks you are too big to mess with, then back away. If it's a big cat (which I suspect it is) just be very wary. He will know you are there long before a bell would warn him and chances are you will never see it. Northern cats are much shyer than the ones out west that cause all the problems with people and here they have a huge range, up to a hundred miles or so (a bob cat is between 5 and 35 miles and they tend to make regular circuts). We have had sightings of large cats in the TC area from people I know would not mistake them for anything else. We have seen bobcats several times, but unless cornered (or in the case of rabies) are prety harmless to humans.
Gread thread about possoms! I have rehabed them many times and find their "silent scream" postures pretty funny. In their entire life spans they only go through one short "cute stage" when they are about 3 months old. It doesn't last long. It's a wonder that their mothers even like them. I do love their little "oprea gloves" though.
Thanks for the advice. I do carry a walking stick and with the dog only see wildlife on the run. I am sure they are pretty scared of humans, but the pepper spray helps me feel a little safer. I have heard of many bear attacks where people who have had guns and never got a chance to use them.
I was the most concerned about a bear with a cub. A cub may aproach a dog or human, and the dog wants to be friends with all. Could be a bad situation. Mama bear would only want to protect her cub. So far so good.
About the possums, I have never seen the "cute" phase I am afraid. We seem to have 2 types here. One has the white heart face and short hair, the other has a gray face and long hair and sometimes white gloves. I thought that the long haired ones tend to be smaller, but saw the largest one ever last week and it was long haired. As long as they stay in the woods, I am happy.
I have been to Williamsburg a few times. Nice area. Have a niece that lives there. You really got the snow last winter I hear.
We were about 5 miles off from the worst of it. I guess being in the valley helps, but then I get frost in late june. It is pretty though, we live on the South side of the burg and have swamp and woods close enough that I can rehab the deer and just let them wander off when they are ready. The possoms, I hardly ever see again. My son teases me about working so hard to raise road kill.
HI, CP! Nothing to say today, but I hate to lurk without at least a hello. Cougars and possums and bears , oh my! Hope you had a great mothers day. Mine was filled with kids, grandkids, a brother and his family, bar-b-que, wine, and love. I'd say there was nothing left to want for, but they brought the Full Moon Maple, pink butterfly bush and smoke tree I've been lusting for. Some of us are just born lucky!
Sounds great everybody.
I agree with the boy that I would not reabilitate possums. We let nature take its course here. I have much respect for people who care as you do though.
The kids came up on Saturday and we had a good time. Sunday was spent at MIL house working in her yard. We spent the day and came home very, very tierd. We trimmed trees, cut trees, hauled rocks....getting to old for this stuff.
Sounds like a great mother's day all around. Thanks for writing everyone.
Hi all, popping in too just to keep up. I'm happy feeding feral kitty cats :))
Masgard, what a wonderful Mothers Day. What is a Full Moon Maple? I love the name. I have a flower bed named Half Moon :))
Jylgaskin, I had to smile over the possums silent scream posture. I can't imagine what it looks like. I didn't know they had a cute stage. Ours are ugly adults with pink ''hands''. ICK :))
What is a Full Moon Maple?
Thanks Resin!
I Googled images and it's gorgeous!!!!!
