What’s going on out on the land?
Highlights of Tracking in the Boyne Valley
I have been thinking a lot this Winter about how amazing it is that all of the various species we track can survive such apparent hardships of freezing temperatures, labourious snow depths, and drastically reduced vegetal forage. It’s like turning off the heat in your house, wading through 60 - 90 odd cm (2 - 3 ft) carpet pile, while constantly engaging all your senses to find the perpetually vigilant and furtive refrigerator. Tough times indeed.
Identifying an unknown Shrew
A parent of one of the kids at the school where I work wrote to me recently, sharing some photos of a dead Shrew she had found at one of my favorite places near to where I live. She guessed it could be a Pygmy Shrew and asked what I thought. I decided to try and figure it out.
Shrew, Mouse, and Vole Trails
I still get confused between Shrew, Mouse and Vole trails. A couple of mornings ago, when we got a fresh coat of snow, I could look down and see some pretty clear trails running perpendicular to the path I was walking on. They were small, had tracks of feet, and some showed tail drags. Some were hoping, some walking. While I looked at them I realized that I wasn’t 100% on which species or group of species they belonged to.
In light of this conundrum, I thought it would be worthwhile to put a little post together to help me better learn what to look for. Here goes.