Woodlife

I was a little astonished when I looked at the woodland floor. A layer of green was spreading in patchy clumps. A slightly weird sight for the beginning of February. I’m not sure what the plant is.

I didn’t have any kind of project this weekend, and wandered around Outfield woods looking in vain for something to track. I did see the Fallow deer at a distance but they were already on the hoof and running away into the field.

I decided to hone my stalking skills on an unsuspecting squirrel. Starting off at about 50 yards, I crept up to about 6 feet which I thought was a pretty good result, but he was quite intent on chewing away at a nice looking piece of bark. Actually, he was completely indifferent to my presence making me feel that my sucess wasn’t as worthy of the high praise as I first gave myself. Only when I childishly shouted “Boo!” did he scarper off. That’ll teach him!

I concentrated my efforts on finding some more evidence of deer after reading about fraying and barking. Apparently fraying is a territorial marking and more often occurs before the rutting season. It’s often accompanied by scrape signs on the ground while barking is stripping away the tree bark for food. I think I found evidence of both, but definately the latter. As you can see from the photo, the marks are nearly vertical strips and are caused by the lower teeth.

Pablo.