I travelled deeper into Centennial Woods with some friends on 02/12/23 to see what animal signs we could encounter in this urban wild. I encountered a lot of Black Capped Chickadees, but failed to encounter a clear image of one. One chickadee stopped to preen just a few feet from us, which was really captivating. We also heard their calls. Next time, I would like to figure out how to upload an audio file to iNaturalist.
Uploading my deer track to the iNaturalist site was easy. I posted the deer track easily, but I cannot figure out how to link my other observations to the group project. I appreciate the map included and the ability to view my classmate’s observations.
While sitting on a log, I discovered two small bones buried in layers of old pine needles. I do not have much experience identifying bones, but one hypothesis that I have is that they belong to a gray squirrel, since they are small, common animals. Next to the bones, I encountered an Eastern White pinecone that had been stripped of its scales by an animal, again probably a squirrel. If there are squirrels living in the area, the bones could be from a dead squirrel.
I also encountered animal tracks in what was left in the snow. The animal was moving uphill and had a diagonal walking pattern. The animal left two hoof-shaped indents in the snow, more than two inches large. The only wild hoofed creatures in Vermont are white tailed deer and moose, and these tracks were much too small to be moose, so I identified the tracks as belonging to a white-tailed deer.
