We greeted the New Year with some fresh snow. We received about a half inch of snow, which started out as rain yesterday afternoon. Maureen and I rang in the beginning of 2006 with good friends last night. Yet, I still managed to get up early enough to take a walk and see which animals were awake as the New Year began. Since the temperatures were such that the snow quickly melted, that was early enough.
The first tracks in the snow were from some very small deer. Biologists often refer to them as doe-fawns and button bucks. They are less than one year old. Most fawns in Pennsylvania are born between May and July, with early June being the peak of fawning. But it has been recently documented that fawns can be dropped as early as March and as late as September. Believe it or not, when a doe fawn reaches about 80 pounds she can actually become pregnant. So, any doe fawns born in May or June probably recently came into estrus, and were bred. If they can conserve enough energy during the coming months they will deliver a fawn in July or later. Doe fawns from this year’s crop of doe fawns will not have enough time to grow large enough to cycle in their first year. I am guessing the little deer tracks that I saw were from fawns born late in the summer. There mothers were probably doe fawns when they became pregnant. All that from some marks in the snow.
There were several tracks of gray squirrels hopping from the trunk of a tree to investigate some smell or bump in the snow. Then the tracks returned to the tree trunk and disappeared.
I had been criss-crossing a red fox’s trail. It had been hunting along the hiking trail and then stepping off to hunt parallel for awhile before returning to the trail. This scenario had been repeated several times. So, I almost overlooked the entrance of another individual. This new creature had smaller feet, but was a fox. Only, I think it was a gray fox, not a red fox. Unfortunately, the snow was quickly melting and loosing definition.
I am pretty excited by this finding though. I did not see any gray fox tracks in the snow last year, and I haven’t seen one at Mariton for a few years. So, I will be spending a lot more time in the snow this winter looking for more evidence of gray foxes prowling our woods.
My little walk in the fresh snow was a great way to greet the New Year. I wish all of you a Happy and Healthy 2006. And I continue to invite you to share the wonders of Mariton, either through these entries, or on a personal visit.
