Animal Tracks
Man’s Best Friend
I noticed these tracks right along the edge of the water. I believe the animal prints belong to a dog as they are closely followed by the human footprints. The human prints stop along the edge of the river, while the dog tracks continue out onto the edges of the frozen water, as you can see in the first and second pictures.
More Dogs??
I’m not entirely sure what kind of animal these prints belong to. The tracks in the first two pictures are followed closely by human tracks and lead to the trail from which you can exit/enter. If I had to guess, I’d say these are also dog tracks. I wouldn’t be surprised if all of the above prints are dog prints as Salmon Hole is a pretty popular spot for activities like dog walking and fishing. In the autumn, I didn’t notice any signs of wildlife, perhaps due to Salmon Hole’s proximity to a busy road and downtown Winooski. In my opinion, these prints likely just belong to some of our domesticated four legged friends.
Phenological Changes
Snow and Ice
Since my last visit, the Winooski River at Salmon Hole has mostly frozen over. There is a section towards downtown Winooski that is not frozen over, but otherwise, the river is covered with a layer of ice and snow.
Oriental Bittersweet
The Oriental Bittersweet I noticed in the fall is still present at Salmon Hole, but it’s berries seem to be less abundant.
Trees
The trees I identified during my previous visits look pretty much the same as the last time I was here. However, I did notice that there was no snow around the base of the trees, while the rest of the ground was covered in snow.