Hodges Village Dam: Oxford, MA (2/17)

On Saturday afternoon my Mom and I headed over to Hodges Village Dam to search for tracks. Initially we didn't hold out too much hope since the snow that we got on Wednesday was rock hard. But the sun melted the top layer just enough to allow the animals to leave great tracks.

This area is extensively used by people walking their dogs so some of the tracks were a bit hard to distinguish. For example, this one fits the range for a Bobcat but it could just be a medium sized domestic dog with no nails registering. And this set was really confusing. It looks like several individual tracks one on top of the other. I can only guess that it may be from a member of the weasle family due to the pattern of tracks.

But, there were others that were relatively easy to make out. I found this set of tracks which was definitely made by a Red Fox. The tracks are sort of amorphous due to the significant amount of fur on the animal's feet. Its also interesting to see the difference in size between the front and hind tracks. Surprisingly (at least to me) the front track is the larger of the two.

While there were many tracks, we actually didn't see too many animals out and about. We did stumble on a large flock of Dark-eyed Juncos and I took a picture of their tracks after they moved on.

All through our 3 mile hike we stumbled on interesting tracks. Deer, Coyote, Gray Squirrel, and a variety of small rodents and birds were all present. We even found what I think are Eastern Cottontail tracks. The pattern is right but the size of the hind prints really struck me.

Finding these tracks really adds enjoyment to any hike. They convince me that the animals are still around... even in the dead of winter.