It has been warm the past few days and the snow has been melting. We had a little dusting of snow on Thursday night which creates perfect conditions for tracking. There is a solid frozen layer with about half an inch of fresh snow on top. This makes the tracks clear and also makes them easy to age.
I took this opportunity to follow a gray fox trail that I saw on the road. On top of the perfect tracking conditions, it was also a beautiful day with a big blue sky. I followed the fox from the road, through the swamp, up to the cliffs behind camp. It was probably two or three miles total. It is rare treat to get to follow an animal for that long of a distance and you really get an insight into its life. I was amazed at how agile and nimble this fox was while I was stumbling and crashing through the snow after it. In one spot the fox trotted up a stump then hopped onto a narrow fallen branch without ever breaking its stride - even with everything covered in snow and ice! I'm looking forward to seeing this fox's trail again trotting through camp and hopefully getting a glimpse 
of the animal itself.
of the animal itself.
Did you lose the trail or did you just decide to stop tracking?
ReplyDeleteI lost the trail once where it went through a big patch of leaves but I was able to find it again. I eventually stopped following because the cliffs that it went into were too slippery and difficult to traverse.
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