Doo Consideration

A well used otter latrine at Little Chauncy Pond in Westboro. There
were several such latrines, all located at the shore where understory
was open but overhead cover was good.

Janet

A Blizzard of Os

Well, really ossa (plural of os, Latin for bone). All of these and more were along the shore of Little Chauncy Pond in Westboro. Raccoon skull, swan neck vertebrae and back, and swan wing bone. Note that the wing bone is hollow, with struts (those strands of bone that you can see just left of the center of the photo) for strength. Hollow bones are an important adaptation for flight. Also at Chauncy pond was a piece of muskrat skull, but I don't have a good photo.

Janet

Raccoon tracks in a light dusting of snow

Dan went out tracking this morning after noticing how nicely Teddy's paw
prints showed up in the light dusting of snow we got overnight. A
raccoon had been prowling along the wetland edge in the early morning
hours, leaving these tracks. There's also been a lot of fisher
activity, retracing the same path and taking advantage of fallen logs to
move about the wetlands.

Earlier this week Dan found a set of bounding bunny tracks along the
side of his house. The racing rabbit cleared 10 feet between bounces.

Clumps of Fur

Lars found clumps of fur along the trail in Delaney Complex, near the Harvard/Stow line on January 6th.  The trail runs along the crest of a long esker.  I founds 8-10 clumps of fur along the trail, clearly pulled out, and predictably spaced every 20 feet or so.  The 4th photo seems distinctly coyote to me.  As I tried to create the story in my head, I envisioned a chase and fighting.  A fight for dominance, or was it romance?  References I read stated January-March for Eastern Coyote breeding season.  Thoughts?  Other possible plot lines?

SCAT ! This is not a game.

Lars found this one yesterday just off Finns Rd dividing the northern and southern portions of Delaney Complex in Stow/Harvard.  It was near the bottom of a kettle hole between two wetlands. There were no surrounding tracks to be found in the remnants of snow.  Ideas?

Oh, and S.C.A.T. is a real game.  Doesn't anyone check these things...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.C.A.T.:_Special_Cybernetic_Attack_Team

Whose Scat IS That?

While out walking today, I came across this scat-like stuff on the ice at the edge of a pond. There were no tracks or other clues as to what left it. All I can say definitively is that it was pumpkin-colored and deemed roll-worthy by the dogs. Any guesses?

Mink Carcass

Hard to say what did in this mink that Button found on our hike today. Though it was positioned under a fallen limb, it's doubtful that played any role in its death. There were no apparent injuries, but my examination was cursory at best. It's been a light winter so far for humans, but who knows what hardships face a hungry mustelid at this time of year?