Snow Tracks

Even though it is the dead of winter, the birds are still hungry. Much to my surprise, the bird feeder that my family installed outside of the kitchen window has not been lonely in this bitter winter. With those hungry birds being the predominant life source I've seen outside, I figured  I was bound to find some of their foot-prints in the snow. I put on the typical coat-hat-gloves get up and trekked into the backyard. The backyard that nobody shovels. The backyard that still has about a foot of snow on the ground. I knew I should have invested in some snow boots.


The most obvious place to look for tracks was right around the tree with the bird-feeder. These were the only tracks I could find:

These were clearly not bird foot prints. The prints are much to big and, well, look nothing like a birds foot. I started to wonder to whom these prints belong. It was obviously a small animal of some kind. But what? A raccoon? Skunk? Squirrel? Cat? While I was looking for the answer, the answer found me in the sound of a bang outside my kitchen window. Heavy winds will sometimes sway the feeder into the window sill and make a slight bang. But there weren't any heavy winds that I knew of. Instead of finding the wind or a bird, I found the snow-prints owner:

I have not once seen a squirrel on the bird feeder since it's been up. It shouldn't surprise me though. What with the feeder hanging from a tree and all. And after looking up prints online and having it on my short list of suspects, I came to my verdict that the squirrel was guilty in all counts of making the snow prints (it was also guilty of stealing the poor birds food, but that's another case for another day).

I became concerned that the weight of the squirrel in combination with the tense cold could potentially cause damage to the feeder. Taking matters into my own hands, I scared the thief away:

I'm sure the squirrel didn't meant any harm. It was only trying to survive this harsh winter just like any other animal. But, unfortunately, I hate squirrels and like birds so it will be one of my goals to make sure the squirrel goes hungry. For the sake of the birds, of course.