February 29, 2012

Where's Waldo? – the Winter Edition

The winter snowpack is a great canvas for recording tracks, and over the years we've seen lots of footprints.  Usually they're left by common species like red squirrels, pine martens and snowshoe hares, but sometimes we see more unusual tracks from wolverines, porcupines or moose.

Finding the animals that left the tracks, however, is harder.  It might be because they're long gone, or it might be because they are “one with nature.”  That's certainly true of snowshoe hares.  Their winter coat is snow white, and they have mastered the art of blending in.

Every once in a while, though, we get lucky.  Last year, on a snowshoe trip with Peter L. from Toronto, we spied a hare sitting motionless in the woods.  We received photos of that trip from Peter last week, and when we opened them, we wondered, “why did he include these shots of a snowy patch of forest?”  Then we had our “ah-ha” moment.  It's like a “Where's Waldo” book, with the role of Waldo being played by the hare.  Have fun finding it!