I left the house because my blood
felt slow and my body felt lethargic. "I need to get moving,"
I thought. I wandered up the road assuming I would go to the park,
but when I got to the crosswalk at the end of the street, I walked
across it and headed towards the neighborhood behind the school,
where Diago and I had had an epic journey about a month ago. On that
journey we had passed a wilderness area with a drainage canal
emptying into it. There was a bench looking over the small ravine and
sign that said, "Maintained by Mrs. Somebody's class at Concord
Highschool."
This time as I passed I was noticing the foot prints; human, human, dog, dog, human, human, dog, wait a second. That doesn't look like dog. And it's coming from across the street, headed towards the trees. This creature is not on a leisure walk, they are headed somewhere.
The ground is funny today. It's snow that's slowly turning to slush. It's crunchy in most places, icy on top and white underneath. The tracks were probably made within the last 12 hours. Just a guess!
I started wondering what it could be, but it was hard to get a clear print. My first instinct was opossum,
because I could see that there was a
thumb sticking out sometimes. So I followed this little creature on
an wild journey. First I noticed that I stepped around a small log,
that to me was evidence that it definitely wasn't dog, or if it was,
it was a pretty small dog. Once it jetted through the forest I was
certain.
It hesitated just like I did trying to get down the hill to the ravine. In fact, it often took the best path down, leaving me to bumble along around it trying not to ruin the track, but get up, down, around things safely. At one point it waddled across a long snowy log and I had to wander down the side of the bank to find a place where I could cross too. On my way back to my little critter, I discovered that these large logs are major highways for squirrels in the area!
My critter seemed to be headed from one
neighborhood to the next, checking out the backs of houses, and
hanging pretty tight to private property. I wandered along beyond
fence and property lines, craning my neck to see where it was headed.
At one point it seemed to join up with another opossum, or perhaps
had come through more than once since it snowed (more likely I
suspect). And in those open places there was a new mark in the track,
a swish that went along side it, opposite the paw print. Tail? I
thought, big belly?
Finally the two trails split off, one going directly to someone's garage. The other one also seemed to be heading into some pretty private areas, so I decided to let it go. I turned around and saw a trail that ran along the ravine so I thought I would just jaunt along and see where it led. Low and behold, here was my little friend, come to lead me a little further.
I followed the new trail back into the woods, and to another ridge. I paused at the top, taking in the view, and sensed something quite special. Wow, I thought, I've never done this before. This is the first animal I've tracked this far, this long, and who I felt like I could see its personality, what it was up to, why it was hesitating in one spot, why it's gate widened in others. I felt accomplishment. And I realized that every end is a beginning.
I wanted to turn around and go home. I've accomplished what I have always wanted, this experience of tracking, and discovering an animal. And here it was, wasn't that the end? I stood and looked out over the ravine and just took it all in. We find something that sparks our curiosity, like a Leadership Training trip our senior year of college, and we set off to follow that trail. We are headed somewhere, we don't know where, but we know we'll know it when we arrive. But the thing is that there is some much that happens along the way that we realize, upon arriving at some goal, or some end, that the story is just going to keep unfolding, and that all the work we've done to get here was really just laying a foundation for us to move to the next level of our learning. A squirrel started moving around behind me, a bird alarmed, and I kept followed the trail.
And Eureka! Just around that tree I had been staring at was this little critters scat! I felt so lucky and so blessed! The longest bit was about 2 inches, the smaller bits were about 1. It wasn't exactly segmented, but there was one part that almost looked that way. Definitely a seed eater, this creature, and berries I would guess. It crumbled when I poked at it, so I'm guessing at least 4 or 5 days old, maybe older? It was right in the crook of the tree, and looked like a comfy, safe place to wait a moment, take a deep breath, take in the view, and let it all out. :)
I lost the trail then and headed down to the stream. I found some muskrat trail along the edge of the water.
Then
I found some human trails and that was fascinating. This is going to
sound kind of weird, but I'm guessing you'll dig it. I sensed this
human. It was like I was suddenly walking with someone else in the
woods, like I wasn't alone. When I lost their trail I felt alone
again, when I picked it up, I felt again in company. I guess the same
thing had been happening with the opossum. The mood, the intent, the
character of the creature is all there in their prints. No wonder I
never feel alone when I'm walking in the park, there are so many
people who are there with me.
I can't wait to get out again and see what these little creatures are up to. I have always enjoyed winter so much more than summer, and I have to admit that that sentiment is only growing!
This time as I passed I was noticing the foot prints; human, human, dog, dog, human, human, dog, wait a second. That doesn't look like dog. And it's coming from across the street, headed towards the trees. This creature is not on a leisure walk, they are headed somewhere.
The ground is funny today. It's snow that's slowly turning to slush. It's crunchy in most places, icy on top and white underneath. The tracks were probably made within the last 12 hours. Just a guess!
I started wondering what it could be, but it was hard to get a clear print. My first instinct was opossum,
because I could see that there was a
thumb sticking out sometimes. So I followed this little creature on
an wild journey. First I noticed that I stepped around a small log,
that to me was evidence that it definitely wasn't dog, or if it was,
it was a pretty small dog. Once it jetted through the forest I was
certain. It hesitated just like I did trying to get down the hill to the ravine. In fact, it often took the best path down, leaving me to bumble along around it trying not to ruin the track, but get up, down, around things safely. At one point it waddled across a long snowy log and I had to wander down the side of the bank to find a place where I could cross too. On my way back to my little critter, I discovered that these large logs are major highways for squirrels in the area!
My critter seemed to be headed from one
neighborhood to the next, checking out the backs of houses, and
hanging pretty tight to private property. I wandered along beyond
fence and property lines, craning my neck to see where it was headed.
At one point it seemed to join up with another opossum, or perhaps
had come through more than once since it snowed (more likely I
suspect). And in those open places there was a new mark in the track,
a swish that went along side it, opposite the paw print. Tail? I
thought, big belly?Finally the two trails split off, one going directly to someone's garage. The other one also seemed to be heading into some pretty private areas, so I decided to let it go. I turned around and saw a trail that ran along the ravine so I thought I would just jaunt along and see where it led. Low and behold, here was my little friend, come to lead me a little further.
I followed the new trail back into the woods, and to another ridge. I paused at the top, taking in the view, and sensed something quite special. Wow, I thought, I've never done this before. This is the first animal I've tracked this far, this long, and who I felt like I could see its personality, what it was up to, why it was hesitating in one spot, why it's gate widened in others. I felt accomplishment. And I realized that every end is a beginning.
I wanted to turn around and go home. I've accomplished what I have always wanted, this experience of tracking, and discovering an animal. And here it was, wasn't that the end? I stood and looked out over the ravine and just took it all in. We find something that sparks our curiosity, like a Leadership Training trip our senior year of college, and we set off to follow that trail. We are headed somewhere, we don't know where, but we know we'll know it when we arrive. But the thing is that there is some much that happens along the way that we realize, upon arriving at some goal, or some end, that the story is just going to keep unfolding, and that all the work we've done to get here was really just laying a foundation for us to move to the next level of our learning. A squirrel started moving around behind me, a bird alarmed, and I kept followed the trail.
And Eureka! Just around that tree I had been staring at was this little critters scat! I felt so lucky and so blessed! The longest bit was about 2 inches, the smaller bits were about 1. It wasn't exactly segmented, but there was one part that almost looked that way. Definitely a seed eater, this creature, and berries I would guess. It crumbled when I poked at it, so I'm guessing at least 4 or 5 days old, maybe older? It was right in the crook of the tree, and looked like a comfy, safe place to wait a moment, take a deep breath, take in the view, and let it all out. :)
I lost the trail then and headed down to the stream. I found some muskrat trail along the edge of the water.
Then
I found some human trails and that was fascinating. This is going to
sound kind of weird, but I'm guessing you'll dig it. I sensed this
human. It was like I was suddenly walking with someone else in the
woods, like I wasn't alone. When I lost their trail I felt alone
again, when I picked it up, I felt again in company. I guess the same
thing had been happening with the opossum. The mood, the intent, the
character of the creature is all there in their prints. No wonder I
never feel alone when I'm walking in the park, there are so many
people who are there with me.I can't wait to get out again and see what these little creatures are up to. I have always enjoyed winter so much more than summer, and I have to admit that that sentiment is only growing!
image credits in order of appearance:
http://suesblog-someassemblyrequired.blogspot.com/2012/01/its-beginning-to-look-lot-like-alanmas.html
http://www.ruewildlifephotos.com/index/detail/4281/Didelphidae;Didelphis-virginiana;Virginia-Opossum;animal;animals;arboreal;arborial;branch;fur;furbearer;furbearers;image;images;insectivore;insectivorous;log;mammal;marsupial;marsupials;nature;old.;omnivore;omnivorous;opossum;opossums;photo;photos;possum;possums;pouched;predacious;predator;stock;walk;walking;wildlife;young.html
http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/muskrats.html
