Early Morning Tracks

I was the first person in to work yesterday morning, and after two days of being closed, the only tracks on the driveway were those left by animals passing in the night. What a treat to see such beautiful clear footprints in the frozen slush.

Fox and raccoon - a nice combination.

I'm always delighted to see raccoon tracks. Around here, where the winters can be brutally cold at times, raccoons only come out when the weather turns mild. When we have a warm night (warm, of course, being a relative term) we pretty much know that the raccoons will be out and about.



Raccoon tracks are always so easy to identify: they look like tiny human hand prints. Five toes, front and back. And when they walk, they place a hind foot next to a front foot, leaving a perfect impression of each, side-by-side.

This raccoon was headed toward the building, so I followed its tracks to see where it went. I suspected it was headed to the back deck and the suet (we bring the birdfeeders in at night, but the suet stays out). I was surprised to find the suet still in tact. It seems the raccoon had other things on its mind, for it made a beeline past the building and down the hill.

This is about the time of year raccoon mate, so we speculated that perhaps this was a male going in search of a female. Whatever its mission, it was nice to see its tracks.