Traces

Sometimes, all I find are small bits of what's left behind.

I often find many feathers, as was the case with the blue jay and pheasant pictured above (the down and blood belonged to a hairy woodpecker, which was being consumed by a merlin nearby). Just a week or so ago, I found several crow feathers in one spot; some were split and broken.

Single bones are also a common discovery. Often, they're stashed away, at the base of a tree, chewed by rodents. The bones I find are almost always deer bones. A less-common sight is fur and hair. The fur, pictured above, belonged to a rabbit. It was the meal of some carnivore, likely a fox or coyote, at the bog on Presque Isle. All that remained were several puffs of fur, one of which still had some skin attached.

Finding traces is always interesting; it provides a mystery and a story. Where is the rest of the animal? What ate it? What will eat it? Where are its bones scattered?