This week I ventured further into Centennial Woods to observe the movement of animals in February. The day that I chose was not the best for tracking due to the high temperatures and rain. I was able to identify the tracks of many domestic dogs and their owners moving on the trails. When walking off-trail it was hard to discern tracks from falling snow. I saw a track that could have been snowshoe hare, but was unsure due to the frequency. A track that I found plenty of and was easily identifiable was the hoof-prints of whitetail deer.

Evidence of animals feeding and scat was another thing that I was on the lookout for during my walk. While the only scat that I was able to find was that of domestic dog I was able to find the kill/feed site of some kind of predator. The tracks that lead up to the log were small and not defined, but the prey was a mouse.

Mouse remains on log ~150 yards from trail

I thought that this was an interesting occurrence because a part of the mouse was left. In winter, when calories are scarce I would expect the predator to eat all of the mouse. I think that the predator was a mammal due to the small tracks leading to the site and the absence of beak marks.