Sunday Snowprints

This winter has been incredibly cold, but we've not seen very much snow at all. (Hopefully I didn't just jinx it...) The little bit that we've had is almost gone now, but because of the cold temperatures, the ponds in our backyard are completely frozen. 

They're solid enough that our variety of wildlife has been using them for shortcuts across the property. Some are tiny and adorable, and some are large enough that we can see them from the deck.

Right now on the property we have about a dozen deer, including four bucks at last count, so many of our tracks are hoof prints. When the grass was covered with snow, there were deer tracks absolutely everywhere, and it was fun to see where all they had been.

We also have acres full of squirrels, a couple of bobcats came through a few weeks ago, and the beavers have been out in force. The neighbors have all the otters, there are plenty of rabbits, and we've seen a handful of turkeys recently. All of them have left some pretty cool tracks across the snowy pond.

Those snow prints give some pretty good clues to that animal's behavior. It may stay out of sight during the day or at the moment you're looking out the window, but the tale tale signs are now frozen in place. What's happening in your backyard right now? Was it captured in the snow, too?