Unfortunately the freezing rain ruined the snow at my site before I had the chance to do a proper analysis. However, when I was passing through earlier looking for snow mysteries, I found that the animal I had been following the tracks of had passed through the wetland.
The animal seems to have been hunting the small mammals living under the snow. The lack of tree cover and presence of dead brush in the fields and wetlands in centennial woods has resulted in deep, fluffy snow accumulating in these areas, which is ideal for the creatures that live in the subnivean zone. Plenty of entrances into this layer have been created by dead plants that protrude from the snow.
Other than the possible fox tracks and evidence of small mammals, I did not see much activity at my site other than dog and boot prints.
On the second visit to my site, the snow cover was too thin and inconsistent to be able to easily see disturbances, and the snow was not powdery enough to preserve small mammal tracks.
I think that the rain that has been occurring on and off for the past day or two has obscured tracks that were left during this time, and old ones are probably gone completely.
The only phenological change that I noticed other than the response of the fox and the small mammals to the snow cover was that the deciduous trees are finally completely bare. Before the snow had melted, I saw loads of evidence of squirrels digging up seed caches in other places in the woods, which probably happened during the thaw that preceded all of this rain. I also saw evidence of a waddling five-toed creature that ventured out during this time, as well as a trail used by deer. The slightly melty snow was perfect for tracking, preserving the smallest of prints very well.
