Snow stories. . .

I enjoy winter mornings, peering out my windows at daybreak and seeing all the fresh wildlife trails in the snow. They reveal what a busy place my yard has been all night long. A story unfolds as I visualize the deer meandering here and there, nibbling away at plants I carefully nurtured all summer long. If I examine the deer tracks more closely, I notice if they have been made by a buck or a doe--depending on imprints near the rear of the hoof. Mouse tracks are cute little prints and usually include traces of tail lines between the footprints. Sometimes, I have an "aha!" moment when their trail leads to the discovery of mouse entrances, leading either into my house or other buildings on the property. "Silly mouse," I say, as I make a mental note of where to set a baited trap. Not surprisingly, the mouse tracks are often criss-crossed with those made by the neighbor's cat! (Mine are indoor cats.) Perhaps, if I were more astute in my nature studies, I might be able to determine the timing of each. But, for now, I simply surmise that cat and mouse were on different schedules when I see no signs of a tussle. Or blood. Bird trails are a little more difficult to follow since they seem to hop about in a flurry of no particular direction. I suppose the continuous movement might be a means of self-preservation. Or, maybe it's just hard to keep those disproportionately round bodies balanced on those spindly little legs with too few toes.

When winter is over and the snow all gone, I sometimes look out at my yard in the morning and wonder what invisible night stories are left untold.