One of my favourite things to do when it snows is to look for animal tracks. Like an artists brush the disturbances made by passing creatures tell a story that at any other time of the year would simply have gone unnoticed. The wanderings of a bird looking for food or the tracks of a passing mammal are lain out before us in perfect clarity, often many hours after their owner has left the scene. Our recent snowfall was of the perfect consistency to preserve these transient signs and it didn’t take us long to spot this pretty unmistakeable set of Rabbit prints up on Gopa Hill.
I probably got a little more excited about this than I should have, but seeing them really harked back to my childhood where this classic shape was no stranger to fans of Disney animations. As far as I can tell the local Rabbit population here is pretty small and I’ve only had a couple of sightings in the flesh over recent years, so it was nice to see more evidence of their presence. A little further on and a whole story was on display.
The photo above shows where the Rabbit (I’m presuming the same one as there was only a single set of prints) comes in from the bottom, has a rummage near the bushes and then hops off out of shot at the top.
Of course where there are Rabbits there is likely to be something that hunts them, and round here that is mainly done by one of the local Foxes. Not far from these tracks were the clear footprints of a Fox crossing the path and disappearing through a well worn hole in the vegetation.
Now the perfect next shot in this sequence would have been to find evidence of the two coming face to face, though to have done so would have been incredibly lucky. Saying that it’s not unheard of so it’s worth keeping an eye out next time you’re walking in snow.
2 Comments
holdingmoments · January 30, 2013 at 7:29 pm
About the only thing I like about the snow these days; watching out for the prints. lol
Dave · February 3, 2013 at 7:18 pm
ah cluso!