Squeezin' In A Narrow Cave

Up on a steep hill in the woods there is a pile of huge rock out croppings- inheritly as dangerous as it is infinitely stable, the tremendous rocks are all piled together in such a way that it created a series of caves. Mud, leaves, and smaller rocks gathered into solid mass on the top cracks - filling in the original openings, and animals dug a new series of tunnels. It was awesome!
I started to squeeze my body into the larger opening, and realized I actually could have snaked my way all the way to the back... but did I want to?
The inner rock was jagged on some edges, it seems perfectly dry and clean in there - I did not smell animal urine and the only tracks i saw looked like a micro tiny deer shaped print (possibly a small pig?) I squiggled my way forward...
In the back of the crevice the rocks piled upward like tiny steps - there was a strong breeze of clean pure air blowing directly in my face. I was told that the cold air blowing out the hole meant the cave went deep underground. The stone 'steps' led up to a sharp left turn, and it looked as though maybe a right turn too! I wish I was an animal this size and could just move in, a cave seems like a really nice place to stay.
But Alas- I hadnt really gone too far back because I started thinking about the possibility of the creature who lived there getting pissed and me being stuffed in the crack with it biting my face like some kind of 80's horror film gremlin. So, I squeezed back out and will try again another day. :)XoXO00

Animal Evidence

There's bunches of reasons to observe the evidence animals leave behind - in the woods or even around your suburban home. The main reason is just for the sheer joy of seeing how awesome and intelligent nature really is, which cultivates a great respect for the earth we live on (observing is my most favorite thing to do), but then there are things like half your flock of chickens is wiped out in a night and you need to know what animal you are dealing with in order to secure your hens properly (raccoon, fox, owl, hawk, coyote...). An even more basic reason to follow the behavior of animals is for survivalist reasons, and I don't mean being a survivalist just for fun or in fear of apocalyptic doom but I mean the economy being so bad that it becomes more apparent you are so poor you will need to feed yourself off the land. In the end, growing and trapping your own food is the most ecological way to live anyway.
Animal tracks (like the deer tracks above) will reveal the paths the animals use on a regular basis. While I don't want to eat a deer (even in a bad economy) I do love to see them doing their thing - it makes me forget about any worry I could have in life. In the picture below are some wild rose bush briers, which have a little cave type arch and shelter quality. Since I walk this path regularly, I know that this sprucing up of the bush is something that just happened. It takes a lot of patience to wait for animals to come by, but if you really want to observe them, you have to find a hiding spot close to some evidence and wait for the magic to happen.
These giant holes below are made by one of the biggest woodpeckers in existence! I have seen them only twice in my life (cause they are too crafty) , it's like spotting an eagle though cause they are so HUGE. They have a giant red head and hammer so hard on the wood it will rock your house. (I found one hammering away on my house siding once). They do this in order to find ants living inside dead trees. Pretty neat!
Where a dead tree falls down, a new path is created. This tree below created a deer super highway - when I say there were too many tracks to even decifer I don't exaggerate! It looked like NYC 5th avenue traffic...nature style.
Lastly is poop, or better known to tracking enthusiasts as "scat". Poop seems pretty easy to identify, but I am not quite sure about this one pictured below. I looked up the categories for dog, cat, deer, rabbit and rodent and it didn't quite fit in any of them. It was out in a open field near a tomato garden and apple trees, which attracts alot of critters all shapes and sizes. There were a few other scat bits near this one too, smaller in size.
Hey Tom Brown Jr., what kinda poop is this?
XoXo

Animal Holes

As much as people would like to consider all the critters that visit our back yards pests, they are an integral part of our eco system and have every right to check out what you throw in your trash can and then dig a little happy home in the ground. I probably shouldn't tell this story because it is so awful, but when I was about 10 years old my very best friend called to tell me baby raccoons were born and living in a oak tree stump in her back yard.!!! YAY! A few days later she called crying, saying her dad filled the hole with CEMENT with the baby raccoons in there to kill them - snuff them out like they were an infestation of cockroaches. She invited me over to see for myself, which basically traumatized me upon sight and I tried digging my fingers into the concrete to free them. Environmental ignorance is long past due it's death, and it's time to nurture the importance of biodiversity & the creatures that make nature the place we seek when we want peace.
Check out these cute little animal holes behind my house (which will never be filled with cement)!





What do they do when it rains? Does anyone know?