Thursday, March 5, 2009

Mink Slides at Quabbin

Janet, Wendy, and Dan spent the morning tracking at Quabbin. One of
our most interesting discoveries was a series of mink slides leading
down a slope toward a small wetland and stream. This mink was sliding
for up to 20 feet at a time, leaving a perfectly-shaped trough down
through the soft snow. This is by far the longest mink slide I've
ever seen.

We found fresh porcupine scat beneath freshly de-barked hemlocks.
The scat was well away from the trunk of the tree and away from any
tracks in the snow. Moral: when you're standing directly underneath
a feeding porcupine, don't look up!

We also found several places where a bobcat had switched to a very
fisher-like bounding pattern (but without a leading, offset foot). We
saw this mainly on hills, both ascending and descending. Perhaps
Janet or Wendy has a photo - I didn't take one.

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