Tracks

Winter reveals secrets: nests hidden in summer, wasp nests, holes in the ground no longer covered by long grass.

And tracks. Especially along frozen streams.

Today in this spot we saw what must have been muskrat tracks — small feet with a tail-dragging mark between. They came up over the edge of the bank, meandered in a circle on the grass, then dropped back over the bank. There was a little dirt slide that led right down into one of those slats between sheets of ice and the bank.

These tracks suggest a squirrel and a crow taking a walk together, but probably the crow came later.

I once watched a squirrel carefully bury a nut in our back yard. Just after he left a crow landed, dug it up, and carried it away. I think the crows watch for the squirrels and investigate.

We saw several of these spots today, where crows had landed and dug at something. There were some dried seed pods around, so maybe that’s what they were after.

Mouse trails show up well too. They must hop pretty high to leave such perfect imprints, complete with little tail marks.

Then there are the tracks left by juvenile homo sapiens — my kids, who like to write in the snow with sticks.

Winter crop circles. Or Nazca lines. We humans, unlike all these tough little barefoot animals, have the luxury of boots and can make gratuitous marks in the snow. Maybe next time we can draw something spectacular. Till then it’s the tried and true.