As I returned from the SSN office (long story – work related), I thought it would be a good idea to walk back to campus and look for tracks, scat, birds or interesting trees.
The first part of the walk was a bit slow. I only found a tree (Blue spruce), which I haven’t seen often in the area, and a mysterious track along the crosswalk. It looked like the animal was sliding through the snow.
Then, I headed into the Calahan Park expecting to find a lot of tracks, which I did, but not animal ones, they were all human. It seemed that many kids had played in the park – either in the playground or sliding down the hill – so I couldn’t identify anything else.
On S. Union Street is where I found a LOT of birds and some tracks. It is a fairly residential area. Many of the houses had snow-covered front yards, so I looked around there. Based on my research and their reddish-orange coloration, the birds are Amercian Robins. The last bird, was making a distinctive loud noise, and based on his/her physical appearance, it was a Blue Jay.
These following last tracks, I hypothesized, after a lot of thought, that they were from a rabbit. I compared them to the tracks on our Mammal Tracks and Scat guide, and they closely resembled to the Cottontail Rabbit. They were smaller in size than those of a Snowshoe Hare, which helped me make my final decision.
iNaturalis links:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/262851821
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/262893528
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/262893459