In the middle of a big empty field I came upon this isolated track.
If you ignore my tracks at the left you see what seems to be a hawk after a mouse. Close up you can see wing prints and deep grab marks in the middle along with the bounding relaunch marks.
I've never seen a raptor take a rodent in a field. Nor have I seen a raccoon hunting at the edge of a creek. Or a shrew tunneling under the snow.
But I have seen their tracks. And the study of those marks as a child opened up a new world to me. I would wander the woods after a fresh snow following deer and rabbits and watching squirrels find their buried nuts. I even followed a fox wandering the edge of a field. All that just by watching for their signs.
On one of my many book shelves I have A Guide to Nature in Winter, Animal Tracking, A Field Guide to Your Own Backyard, and a dozen similar titles that I've had for almost 30 years. It's because of those books that I know what to look for. And my parents provided opportunities - they took us camping for a few weeks every summer and they bought a good piece of land where I could walk out the door, track animals, catch snakes, and build stuff in the woods.
A few years ago I visited my aunt and uncle who lived in northern Wisconsin. On an early morning kayak ride I was blessed to see a bald eagle swoop down and snag a fish from the lake. Majestic
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