Cats and dogs

posted in: Uncategorized | 0

Today’s hike was a welcomed break from all those household things that seem to never end. Bruce Walter, Mossy Mossberg, and I put on the snowshoes and went for a hike on the grasslands (or at least the dry Douglas Fir forest that borders the grasslands).

Clear blue skies and a warm sun started the hike. Soon though the wind picked up and the temperatures dropped about 10 degrees. But, as older and wiser outdoorsmen, we had brought our heavier winter gear with us and all was well.
In a month or so these low level light shots will only be had by those rising way too early in the morning.
Try getting a shot of a black dog on white snow. Post production and a good histogram helps.
I am happy to announce that the red squirrel population is doing well. Very few seeds will be going to waste.
Moose droppings and loads of tracks from a month ago suggests that the moose had found good groceries here and the snow was not too deep for their long legs.
Black bear claw marks on this Trembling Aspen (locally called a poplar) show that the bear has been using this tree for quite a number of years. The older claw marks are just below the fresher claw marks made this past season.
Red osier dogwood is like crack cocaine to the moose – at least in terms of their desire for it, but I think a lot healthier choice.
These are bobcat tracks. Differentiated from coyotes by: short stride, offset right and left tracks, small rounded prints.
These are coyote tracks: longer stride, inline tracks, larger more elongated prints than those of the bobcat pictured earlier.
Sugarloaf mountain in the distance. I think just about every community in North America (at least those with mountains or hills) has a Sugarloaf. This is from the days when sugar was formed into large cakes (loaves) for transport on the wooden sailing ships – apparently every mountain looked like a sugarloaf to the early settlers. I shall endeavour to learn what the local Nlaka’pamux name for the mountain is.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *