Salamander

This morning, a Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) briskly trotted up the trail from the back of our farm and then crossed the backyard before disappearing into the pine plantation to the east. I frequently see fox tracks on the trails around the farm, and also in both the front and back yards. Occasionally, I see the fox around 9 or 10 in the evening — wandering around the yard checking underneath the spruce trees (we have a couple of Eastern Cottontail rabbits coming to our bird feeders, so this is probably part of the attraction for the fox). However, this is the first time I’ve seen the fox walking so close to the house in daylight. I guess it’s feeling comfortable enough about the yard to have made it part of its territory to patrol regardless of time of day. Unfortunately, my camera wasn’t handy at the time or I might have bagged a nice shot of a very nice looking individual.

Tags: Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes

Feb. 19, 2006:
Yesterday, we hiked the Hemlock Ridge and Beech Woods trails at Charleston Lake. We found many Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) tracks on the snow. We hiked the same two trails last weekend (Feb. 11), and on that occasion, found a porcupine about 4 meters up a poplar tree near the trailhead. Later in that hike, we encountered what was probably the same porcupine, about 200 meters up the trail. It quickly ambled back in the direction of the trailhead. On Feb. 19th, we found the woods laced with porcupine highways such as the one in the above photo. Obviously, the porcupines are quite active. I followed one set of tracks to an opening in the cracked granite ridge.

Also seen on this trip were two Barred owls (Strix varia) along the Hemlock Grove trail [UTM 18T 0418257, 4928574 (WGS84)]. We had seen one moving about among the hemlocks on Feb. 11, but this time, we saw two at the same time, moving along through the treetops ahead of us. We’ve seen and photographed a Barred Owl in this same grove a couple of times in recent years.

Other birds seen on this trip were a Common Raven, flying overhead, calling loudly; as well as a Hairy Woodpecker in the spruce grove on the Beech Woods trail. Ruffed Grouse tracks were frequently seen along both trails, as were the tracks of deer, fox, and coyote.

Tags: Porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum, Barred owls, Strix varia