One of the delights of a fresh snowfall is the sudden appearance of animal tracks, that reveal just how much activity is going on in a seemingly empty winter landscape. Here are a few from earlier this week.
A field mouse, hopping from top to bottom of the picture - you can see the line where it dragged its long tail in the snow.
A grey squirrel, with those prominent claws used for climbing
A moorhen, with that little sideways-facing spur at the back of its foot
A grey partridge. The line between the footprints is where the claw on the long central toe has dragged through the deep snow
A pheasant - similar to a partridge but larger, with a longer stride
A domestic goose - big webbed feet
Mallard duck, webbed-feet turned inwards as it waddled
The ubiquitous rabbit. Fore-feet are placed one in front of the other when they lands, then longer, larger back feet overtake them before they land.
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Enjoyed this series Phil.
ReplyDeleteAnimal track ID isn't my strongest point, so these were very helpful.
Saw the animals making these Keith, otherwise I wouldn't have been too confident
DeleteGood work, Sherlock!
ReplyDeleteElementary, my dear Watson!
Delete