Snow tracks

A query from the Three Dog Blogger about the animals we’ve seen at Loveless sent me rummaging through drawers for this card (which I bought more than 20 years ago and intended to frame), first published in 1897 in St. Nicholas Magazine.

What I’ve seen most in the flesh (and recognize their snow tracks) are rabbit, squirrel and my neighbors’ dogs. I’ve seen deer tracks, but only spied one once, two summers ago, walking along the far shoreline.

Last fall I saw a gang of a dozen or so wild turkeys scooting single file through the middle of my hill parallel to shore. My neighbor Scott, a year-round resident for decades, said he’d never seen wild turkeys so near to the water, which made it a double-cool sighting. He was the one who researched the proper way to identify a group of turkeys as a “gang.”

The most exciting discovery by far was the distinct bear paw we spied in the mud one spring, fairly close to the road. Lane Burke, my gone-too-soon Loveless Laker friend, told me he saw a bear on our side of the lake during one of his morning walks, so I know we weren’t making up tall tales.

I’ve also seen raccoon scat, but not yet a live one, though it’s inevitable. For reasons unknown, the St. Nicholas card gives the humble ’coon the most real estate of any of the critters, devoting three columns to its various gaits: a “slow jumbing gate (cq),” “slow walk” and “fast trot.”

With such distinctive features, I’m rather inspired to take a closer look.