January 3, 2021: Tracks and Cracks

The mission for the last week of 2020 was to identify some tracks in the yard that appeared around the bird feeder.  My first thought was bobcat because they like to check out what's under the feeder, and also just because they're really neat and I always want to think a bobcat is in the vicinity!  The prints were the right size for a bobcat, but poorly defined in the deep snow so not identifiable, and the track pattern was not consistent with a nimble predator like a feline or a canine; it was more like the waddling path of a skunk or a porcupine.  The track led down to the water - which was still open at the very shoreline - but not into it, and the track clearly wasn't that of a mink anyway.  But when the the track re-emerged in an area with less snow, actually some wet mushy snow, the animal left perfectly clear prints that revealed its identify.

Any guesses?

  

That is the track of a raccoon.  Just looking at the print one can understand how a raccoon can be so dexterous, earning it the reputation as a very clever animal, able to open boxes, jars, even doorknobs.  Each foot has five independent fingers able to manipulate objects almost like a human.  The thumb isn't actually opposable like our thumbs are, but it's still highly functional.  Raccoons are also excellent climbers, and they can rotate their rear feet 180 degrees which allows them to rapidly climb down trees as well as up.  

When not in a hurry a raccoon will just plod along, as it was doing when it left this set of walking tracks in the wet snow.

Raccoons are nocturnal and I've only seen them a few times on early morning walks near the lake.  

Always near water.

And usually in dim light.

Every time I've seen one the lower half of its body has been wet, showing just how much time they spend in water.  But always just the lower half.  After I saw one swimming one morning I realized why that is: even when they swim they are so buoyant that their upper body stays dry!

A morning swim.

If you see a raccoon during the day you should be cautious - raccoons account for about half of all rabies in New Hampshire, and day time behavior is a sign of possible illness.

After checking the ice thickness, and getting reports from others around the lake (thank you AW and HC) I decided it was safe for skating.  As of yesterday there were nine inches of ice where I checked, and we got in a couple of great skates before Friday night's snow.

Lots of people out enjoying the lake.

A 360 degree panorama taken between Bryant and Sheep Islands.

Thanks for the pic TG!

Pond skating means watching for cracks which form when the ice expands and contracts, but I have never seen a crack form like this:

A long squiggly crack in the ice.

It's hard to see, but it was a near perfect sine wave that had propagated a long distance across the surface of the lake.  You can't tell how long it is in the picture so I skated along it and took a video which you can watch here.

Usually the cracks are rather straight, or with random turns and bends.  There were other unusual and interesting cracks in the ice, perhaps caused by the rapid rise and fall of the water under the ice due to the heavy rain just as it froze.  Here's a fascinating set of cracks:

This misaligned crack went across the widest part of the lake from the end of Loon Point towards the Blake's house.  It formed before the crack that crosses it; that one looks like two tectonic plates that separated along a fault line, with one shifting about 10 inches to the east.  An earthquake in Lake Wicwas!

You have to enjoy the ice when nature gives it to you - it doesn't last long, and the snow put an end to it - but now we're back on skis and snowshoes.

Mother nature also gave us a beautiful full moon this week, the December moon being called the "Cold Moon". 

That's according to the Farmer's Almanac.  There are other cultural names for the December moon including the Snow Moon, the Christmas Moon, and the Long Night Moon.  Whatever you want to call it, let's just hope this moon will put 2020 to bed for good.  

Goodnight Moon.

Welcome 2021!