Sub-zero Hike Reveals One of Nature's Mysteries

The thermometer was not to reach zero, but I decided to take a quick walk in the woods anyway.  According to the news, I would get frostbite in less than 30 minutes.  From the inside, the bright blue sky and white blanket of snow were calling me.  So I bundled up and headed out.

The blue sky looked bluer than I had seen in many weeks.


And I liked the way the sun bouncing off of the trees created shadows in snow.

 
There were no other tracks ahead of me so it was an adventure. 


What would I discover?  Where were all the animals?  The previous day, with warmer temperatures, I had seen many squirrels scampering about.  Today none were visible.


I headed down the familiar trail to the ravine, my favorite place on the property.  The place where my husband had discarded deer heads from his chronic wasting disease project.  Many animals had visited this place in the past, so I was anxious to see what would happen after a foot of snow had covered the heads.

As I approached, I saw tracks!  But with the deep snow, they were hard to identify.  And it looked like 3 separate tracks indicating 3 separate animals.

All three continued over the trail and into the ravine.  As I looked below, I saw one of the heads had been pulled out of the snow drift.  Due to the size of track, its meandering course, and knowledge of animals of the area, I thought these were bobcat tracks.  My husband had seen 3 similar size cats earlier, probably siblings.  Where are these animals living on our property?  I wanted to find out.  So I back tracked, following the meanderings through woods. 

This proved more difficult than I thought, however.  It was still very cold, and the tracks went through some brambles covered with snow.  They also continued for quite a ways.  With the drifts, brambles and cold, it was hard going.  I started to wonder about the size of a bobcat's territory.  Maybe I couldn't follow this trail for that long.  I saw several spots of "yellow snow", indicating I was within the territory of these cats.

Finally, I was rewarded with the site!  The mystery...where do the bobcats live....was solved.  There were many tracks around the base of this old dead snag.  The base was huge and many dead logs on the forest floor at this point.  It was located at the edge of our property, next to an open field.  Across the field, I saw tracks as well.  Good hunting grounds for the cats.

Now that I know where they are, I can't wait for warmer weather and better visibility.  Maybe I'll set up a tent near the site to get a better look at these marvelous creatures.

But now it was time to head home.  I no longer followed the bobcat tracks but had to blaze a trail of my own through the brambles and snow drifts.  This was hard going, and I was getting cold.

Finally, I saw the house ahead of me.  I was glad that I had braved the elements, solved some mysteries, and made plans to visit again, but now it was time for that warm bowl of soup and a hot cup of coffee.  Mmmmm good.