I have an intruder.  An uninvited guest who is making quite the nuisance of itself.  Due to the odor it’s leaving, I’m fairly comfortable in thinking it’s a skunk.  Its taken up residence under my deck, causing my entire house to smell.  I’ve asked for help in evicting it – a friend’s son is a wizard at dealing with such unwanted intrusions by local wildlife.  Hopefully he can come over soon!

We’ve had such a mild winter the skunks have been out and about for most of it.  They aren’t true hibernators.  Instead they sleep intermittently throughout the winter and periodically wake to forage for food.  I guess this skunk decided my deck was the perfect new home!  Given the fact I have sunflower seeds and cat food available I guess I’ve made it too comfortable for him!  I keep hoping the great-horned owls that are around will eat him.  Owls are pretty much the only predator a skunk has.

If you’ve have skunks, how have you gotten rid of them?

I went cross country skiing last weekend, just east of Yellowstone National Park.  It was a slow day for wildlife, but I did see some moose tracks.     Generally we see a variety of wildlife – water ouzels or dippers, moose, bighorn sheep, etc.  There had been a beaver living along the river, but I didn’t see any sign of it this trip.  We’ve also seen otters playing in the water.  One year there was half an elk carcass just off the track – brought down by wolves!      

Activity:  What do animals do under the snow?  Not all animals hibernate or migrate out of snowy conditions.  Rodents especially continue living on top and under the snow pack.  If there’s snow where you live, see if you can locate a spot where mice have burrowed through the snow.  Mice live under the snow, down into the soil where the temperatures stay a little warmer, but they climb to the top in order to forage for seeds.  Often the snow isn’t as deep around the base of a tree so that would be a good place to start.  Read the signs to see if you can determine the rodents’ general pattern of movement – where they come through the snow, where they head for food, etc.  You could even put out some seeds and see how that affects their travels.  This spring, after the snow melts you might find what look like above ground tunnels.  These are the eskers left by pocket gophers and moles as they tunnel around just below ground level, leaving behind mounds of dirt.

Today was a great day for different birds in the yard.  I saw 2 little downy woodpeckers on my aspen trees and then a cooper’s hawk flew in above them.  The downy’s were sitting parallel to the branches, as opposed to perpendicular like most birds.  Their feet were grasping the branch the same way as if you were playing “one potato, two potato” and their tails were propped against the branch for counter support.  Woodpeckers have a different toe configuration than other birds.  Instead of 3 forward toes and 1 behind for grasping, woodpeckers have 2 forward and 2 behind for greater support when climbing tree trunks.

Cooper’s hawks are medium-sized, urban hawks that whip through yards trying to catch slow sparrows.  Often they’ll come up to a feeder at ground level then swoop upwards to catch their prey.  I’ve seen a cooper’s take a red-winged blackbird – they are skilled predators.  They’re easily confused with sharp-shinned hawks, which are smaller and have a more squared-off tail.

I recently participated in the Bureau Of Land Management’s Mid-Winter Eagle Survey. I’ve been survying my particular route for 4 years now and am fairly familiar with the favorite roosting sites. We saw 18 total birds, mostly balds and two goldens. These numbers are down from the counts the previous two years. This winter has been much more mild so the river wasn’t frozen over. There’s also been little snow cover so I’m thinking the birds are more spread out away from the river. The lack of snow and more open water means there are more places the birds can forage.

We also saw 3 Trumpeter Swans, which was very exciting! They are such huge, elegant birds. We saw a family unit – two parents and a young of the year which was grayer in color than its blinding white parents. These are the largest of our waterfowl – weighing in at 35 lbs. and having a wingspan of over 7′!

Activity: Eagles and Swans are some of our largest birds. Make a chart to compare wingspans of various birds. Use a long sheet of newsprint and draw an outline of the largest bird you’re using. Research the sizes of other birds, such as great blue heron, red-tailed hawk, osprey, turkey, grouse, seagull, magpie, cardinal, etc. Place their outlines inside the outline of your largest bird. Have children stand with their noses on the centerline of the poster and then stretch out their arms. They can compare their “wingspan” with the bird species!

I woke up to rain this morning. On the 29th day of December it was raining! This is pretty strange weather for us. We had chinook winds for most of the week, raising the temperature from the 20′s to the 40′s and 50′s during the day. That was enough to melt most of our remaining snow, but the rain last night did away with the last little bits. 

A chinook is a warm wind. As moisture laden air rises over the mountain ranges, it drops its load of precipitation. The drier air warms as it tops the mountains and continues warming as it thunders down the eastern slopes, resulting in what’s known as a chinook.

We don’t always get chinooks – often our winds are just bitterly cold, making for below zero wind chills instead of balmy snow melters!

Activity:  Use windsocks or flagging to determine the direction of wind.  You can make graphs and charts showing how the wind changes directions depending upon the time of day, etc.  You can also make homemade anemomters to measure wind speed.  Here’s a website that has great weather related activities:  www.weatherwizkids.com

The dogs and I went walking the other day and I found some interesting tracks.  The first photo is of Luca’s footprints. As a Samoyed he has a big foot for running in the snow!  You can clearly see his nails (which need to be clipped!) – that’s what distinguishes a dog track from a cat track.

Next I saw a Mule Deer track. We have a resident herd of deer in the city so their tracks are everywhere.  Notice the 2 indentations behind the hoof  – these are the impressions from the dewclaws which usually only show up when the ground is soft.

I also saw this peculiar track.  The print was formed right in what used to be the top of a large ant pile.  The print isn’t very distinct because the surface was so soft.  The animal that left this print was loping with long strides and could easily outrun a dog or coyote.

This jackrabbit doesn’t even break a sweat when he’s eluding predators.  His long back feet made the print above.

We’ve had several days of fog, either just in the early morning or most of the day. On Monday the day started bright but slowly got darker and darker as the fog rolled in from the north. The trees formed hoar frost before the sun set and by Tuesday morning all was completely draped in lacy white. I love this type of frost because it so changes a mundane scene into something special.  Today the sun broke through in the afternoon gracing us with a coral and pink sunset. My camera isn’t the best – maybe Santa will bring me a new one!

Activity:  There are different types of frost, depending upon the atmospheric conditions when it’s forming.  Hoar frost forms when the temperature of any vegetation is lower than the surrounding highly moisturized air.  Water droplets from the fog condense on leaves, branches and stems.  Since the tree or grass is colder than the air, the droplets freeze forming icy crystals that build layer upon layer.

You can make your own fog with some dry ice.  Most grocery stores carry dry ice – ask for some for your ice cream!  Always wear gloves when handling dry ice and never let children play with it by themselves.  We always just put it in the sink with a little water and let the fog form!  Experiment with different containers and some tubing (like that for dryer vents) so you can have more control over your fog.   

The word “hoar” originates from Old English and Norse and is used to describe something that is gray with age, as in a white-haired elder.  Hoar frost often forms at night – turning young vegetation old and “white-haired” as you sleep!

Bald Eagles roosting above the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River

Today we took a quick drive to Red Lodge, Montana.  It was a beautiful day - a heavy frost fell overnight so the trees and bushes glistened in the warming sun.  It was a normal trip but made extra special by the amount of wildlife observed:  mule deer (lots with a couple herds of at least 50), white-tailed deer (again, lots but not as many as the mulies), pronghorn (or antelope), robins, magpies, a huge flock of cedar waxwings, several wild turkeys, 1 golden eagle and 7 bald eagles.  The white-tails were everywhere in Red Lodge.  We saw one young doe looking in the window of a house!

I love seeing the eagles.  These birds migrate south from Canada and spend their winters fishing along the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River. Right now the water is mostly open so the birds are having an easier time feeding.  There are several favorite perch sites in the cottonwoods along the river, where you’re nearly always guarenteed to see an eagle roosting.  When one of these sites is empty it’s like missing an old friend.

Activity:  Keep a wildlife notebook.  Stash a notebook in the car and make a journal of the wildlife you see around your area.  Make sure to note the date and any special weather events.  Once you have a year’s worth of entries you can gain a better understanding about seasonal animal movements in your area.  At first you might just record a few birds and squirrels, but soon you’ll become more adept at identifying other bird species and maybe even telling apart types of squirrels.  Improve your observation skills by taking a second look.  That dark blob in the tree branches might be a hawk and not a piece of trash stuck up there.  Note color, size and where the animal is found (low to the ground, in the tops of trees, under bushes, etc).  You can even branch out and record interesting people you see!

I’ve finally joined the rest of the online world with this foray into blogging. I hope this site provides my readers with information, insight, comaraderie and humour as we set about to discover the natural world in our everyday lives.