Animal Tracks in Snow – Feb. 11, 2016

It’s been a fairly easy winter here this year in Ontario, and after a few days of no snow we got about 10cm last night (different story on the west coast of Canada, where Vancouver and the rest of BC has gotten the winter we’ve missed!).

This morning I woke up to look out in the yard and saw 2 or 3 tracks of different animals. I thought one of them looked like a cat (small footprints close together with pads and claws, and in a tight line, with some wavering), and we’ve had a cat roaming around here from time to time, so that was a good bet that’s what made one set of tracks.

The other tracks look to be from a squirrel (smaller footprints with pads and claws, and drag marks in fairly straight lines), of which we have several that visit here on a daily basis.

There was also a third set of tracks, I think, more blocky. Could be the cat again, in different snow, but I’m not sure. I looked online for examples of animal prints in snow, but they were not easy to find.

I made a video of the tracks, so you can take a look. If you think I’ve missed the mark on what any of the tracks are, let me know by leaving a comment, I’d appreciate it.

On the Writing Front

I’ve been working on getting the paperback versions of my short story series “MIB Files” out, so those should all be available from Amazon, soon. Here’s a link to the first two that are now online:

MIB Files: Movie Time – Tales of the Men In Black (Volume 4): http://amzn.to/2lv1jdu
MIB Files: Bigfoot Hunter – Tales of the Men In Black (Volume 6): http://amzn.to/2keBez5

Writing Now: D.U.M.B.s (Deep Underground Military Bases) – Book 6 (See the other books in the series: http://amzn.to/2l4FfW0

Heartwarming animal recovery miracles

I found these touching videos today that were made by Monika Melichar who runs the Woodlands Wildlife Sanctuary in Minden, Ontario, Canada. Please send them your thanks for helping animals in need, and support them with a donation if you can. WWS is a registered charitable organization, and donations of $20.00 or more will be issued an income tax receipt. http://www.woodlandswildlifesanctuary.ca

More on their Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfQC9fTosSCmpaJ8IdTPmEg/videos

Woodlands Wildlife Sanctuary is a registered charitable organization, and donations of $20.00 or more will be issued an income tax receipt. http://www.woodlandswildlifesanctuary.ca

 

Crickets tell the temperature

I love the sound of crickets at night, making their mating calls! I believe it’s only the males that make the sounds.

Near where I live is a large field with a lot of crickets! At night (and even at times in the day) they make a lot of what some might call “racket” but I call music to my ears.

Did you know you can tell the temperature outside by counting the frequency of the cricket’s chirps and a little math? It’s true! This is how you do it, and I’ve tried it and it works: http://www.almanac.com/cricket-chirps-temperature-thermometer

Here is a video I recently made of the crickets nearby at night:

Night crickets walking

There’s more on my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/RockinFilms

Three Deer on the Hill

Here’s a picture I took last night (Apr 30, 2013) of some deer out for an evening snack. They were watching me closely, as you can tell by their upright ears and looking my way. I was, I’d guess 400 feet away, and had to zoom in with the lens.

PICT0005

 How it Happened

I was driving in the county that evening, and it was getting near dark. I looked across a field as I passed by and saw what I thought were three deer! It happened so fast, I barely had time to register seeing them. I turned around and went back for a look, and sure enough, I did see what I thought I saw! There were the three deer nibbling on the grass on a hill in the field across the road from me. It was not the first time I had seen deer in the area, but it was the first time that I had seen three together!

I pulled to a gentle stop and parked the car. The deer took notice of me and started to watch me, even though I was still in the car and a substantial distance away. I guess that most people didn’t notice them (a lot of people tend to drive too fast, and miss such details), and just flew by the field. My stopping must have seemed odd to the deer, I guess. I got my camera out and rolled down the window to get a picture. Other cars continued to go past me as I steadied my arm on the door frame. I had to zoom in to get a decent shot, so the picture quality is a bit degraded.

Just after I took the picture, the deer headed over the crest of the hill, and out of my view. They’d had enough of being photo-stars, apparently! It was amazing to me how they were so cautious of me, and I was a long distance from them – and still in the car! Good luck sneaking up on one of them! They were young deer by the looks of them. I hope they have a good summer, and a good life!

 

Birds and eggs need help!

red_winged_blackbird – image copyright its owner.

A Red-winged Blackbird family has built a nest on a house due to be torn down soon, and there are eggs in the nest!

Aside from hoping that the demolition permit continues to be delayed and that the eggs will have time to hatch, and the young to fly away, does anyone know what to do?

These birds are very aggressive in defense of their nests, so moving the nest will be difficult. And, if the nest is moved, will the parent birds even want the eggs anymore?

Any experienced help would be appreciated!

(They also want to cut down a large evergreen pine-type tree that is estimated at 50 to 75 years old to build a new house. The trunk is not thick enough to be protected under Toronto’s by-laws, apparently. Sad.)

*Update: Looks like the birds have flown the coop – so we don’t have to worry what will happen when the house is torn down. Not sure about the tree, yet.

For Thanksgiving – a short story “Turkey Day REVENGE!”

I wrote this short story a little while back, during Thanksgiving one year (the Canadian one, though I do appreciate the American one as well). As you will see, it’s totally fiction. Perhaps it came from an alternate universe? I’m not sure, but the story was there, so I share it with you.

What would happen if all the turkeys destined for dinner plates were somehow able to fight back?

It’s about a vegetarian at Thanksgiving and something strange that happens…

A short story from David Sloma.

Read a FREE sample and see multiple e-books formats at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/57989

Buy it for the Kindle at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051PEQ4A

Also available as an e-book from the online stores Apple, Barnes & Noble, Diesel, Kobo, Scrollmotion, and Sony.