Round 2

Once again I have braved the wilds of the Ipswich/Rowley woods to bring you, my not so faithful or numerous readers, tales of creatures both great and small and the glorious habitat in which they live. On this trip I relearned some valuable lessons, such as just because water looks frozen solid does not mean that is. Also, while snowshoes are great for the snow, they make for a poor choice of foot wear when crossing fallen tree bridges, I only just managed to avoid falling several feet into some very cold water. 

I made my rounds yesterday between 16:30-18:00. I was hoping that by going out later in the day I may have a better chance at seeing or hearing some wildlife. With the recent temperature fluctuations the terrain was pretty rough and inconsistent. Animal tracks were every where but it was hard to make them out. I tried taking a some pictures of them but as you can see they came out crap due to the light. Now if this was fresh snow it would be a little easier to figure what type of tracks these are. But as of right now it is either a skunk, raccoon, or the awesome possum (North Americas only marciupial). Now I was able to find out that skunks do go through a semi dormant period in the winter, finding shelter in dens for warmth. Interestingly enough female skunks have been known to huddle in groups of up to 12 in the same den while males usually den alone. So it may be that these tracks (and they where everywhere) are more likely to be raccoon or opossum. I am leaning toward a raccoon because opossums have a distinct opposable thumb on their hind legs. But I will have to go out again and really study the prints now that I know what I am looking for. 

I was also able to find what is either an Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) or a Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus) tracks. From distribution maps both are found around here.  

 Now from the narrowness of the front tracks, which are actually their hind legs, it looks like it is the cottontail. 
As for my fisher cat pal, I was able to find several tracks but the pictures came out really bad so I will try and find some better ones after the snow fall that we may get in the next couple of days. Also, my quest to discover the owl that I heard continues but I believe my search is narrowing... 

Hello

 Hello my name is Phil. Over the course of the next couple of months (hence the name of the blog, past, present, future yes it is in latin and yes i am sort of history geek) I am going to be out in the wonderful woods of Rowley/Ipswich, attempting to make some observations on the flora and fauna of the area. I do run regularly through this labyrinth of trails so I am some what familiar with area and I have a rough idea of the various critters that inhabit this glorious section woods.
On previous jaunts through the woods I have frequently come across whitetail deer does and even had a run in with the ferocious fisher cat.

                                                                           or...

Fisher or Martes Pennanti, is a member of weasel family. The males typically are 90-120cm long (that's between 3 and 4 feet) and weigh between 3.5 and 13 kg (8-13lbs). The lady fishers are smaller and lighter. They live in the forests of North America, typically in the northern states and Canada. They are omnivorous, and are one of the few hunters of the porcupines. Despite their name they seldom eat fish.

Sadly on today's excursion I saw neither deer nor fisher. Alas the only wild life I managed to glimpse on this snowy day was the Turdus migratorius (American Robin). Though always thought that this bird migrated south for the winter, this notion was quickly dispatched by; A. seeing one in winter and B. reading about them. But that one robin, was it. The woods were incredibly quiet with the only noise, besides the clatter of my snowshoes, was clumps of snow dropping of bows of the pine trees. (Thanks wikipedia for the animal factoids).  

   

But from the abundance of animal tracks there I know I have the opportunity to see a lot of wildlife and hopefully grab some pics to. Plus with spring not far off I will be able to see what these woods have to offer by way of plant life. 

Oh and I know that there is owl out there cause it scared the crap out of me a week ago when my run took me into the night but have yet to figure out what species of owl.