I had to wait until noon for it to be soft enough to penetrate to make my escape. At the end of the day with a strong solar assist, the actual gravel driveway has begun to reappear. Now more freezing rain is on tap for the wee hours of the night and into the morning. Wednesday looks good then back to a wintry mix.
I have a big bucket of primer. Fetching a load of tongue and groove lumber looks questionable.
I wish I could tell for certain who has been patrolling the grounds. Someone has been following this route up to the driveway and into the ridge top garden more than once. I even think they used the same step prints coming and going. My fear is that it is a coyote. One can never be certain why two cats have become so house bound and don't go far when they do go outside.
Even crusty snow can display a few charms.
But I still don't like it.
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12 comments:
I'm glad you were able to get out of the driveway and to town for some supplies. Too bad about the load of tongue and groove lumber. We have coyotes our way too and I worry about my dogs.
Well, I vote for kitties indoors whether there's a coyote or not.
Isn't there some kind of plow attachment you can get for your truck that pushes all the snow out of the way? I guess another option is undergrounding a radiant heating system for your driveway.
Surely the first day of February is time to take heart. January and December are behind us now. February is only 28 days. It will still be cold by spring, I suppose, but not like this. Surely not like this.
I know nothing much of snow. The photos are pretty that's for sure. Here's hoping if it is a Coyote, it finds somewhere else to hang out. The territory they live in is about a 12 mile radius..
Chris, my husband said that he doesn't think a coyote would walk in its same steps, but he wondered about a "big cat" of some sort (mountain lion, etc.)
Sallysmom
Perhaps you could get a close up of the prints and a wildlife person could ID it. Then you'd know what's prowling around up there. Your cats know; wish they could talk.
Yes, crusty snow is awful stuff. This has got to be one of the worst winters since I was a kid.
bev
So glad the kitties are staying close. Hope your mystery prints can be named. Mtn lion sounds ok but don't know about all that. Some say that the cats that are around & wild sound like a woman screaming. Heard it once, does sound weird & scary.
Glad you were able to get out. Sorry about the t&g.
Stay warm & safe.
I hope it's not a coyote too. Keep an eye on your kitties! I can imagine you don't like that snow but it sure does look pretty.
I think I have identified the prowler. The big raccoon that was on the deck just now. They have much longer legs than I had pictured in my mind. This one was definitely bigger than the cats. Crawford was out there too and was all puffed up with his hair on end.
We have all the critters here and I go online quite often to compare tracks that I find. There are a lot of good track pictures online.
Coyotes I hear often enough near by and far off. I have seen raccoons and opposums. Skunk was a good choice for the digging incident. There are chipmunks and squirrels. I have seen deer, their prints and droppings. Saw a bunny. Turkeys are regulars and their tracks look like small dinosaur prints.
The wild cats? Never seen any, never heard any. Bobcats should still be around, but on the NC Wildlife Resources site the biologists say there have been no credible sightings or evidence of cougars in a long time and they don't believe they are here.
Bears are here for sure. How close to me I have no idea.
Let's not forget the invisible cow and I was reading about feral pigs in GSMNP just the other day.
I got plenty varmints.
You're having some winter there, Christopher - snow was something I once could handle, but it was on relatively flat land...those hills are something else.
You sure do have a lot of critters! Kerri at Colors of the Garden posted about losing some cats to raccoon attacks -your furbabies are wise to be wary and puffed up so they look inedible.
It's Candlemas/Candelaria/Groundhog Day - halfway to spring equinox - hope as Chuck says, you can take heart.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
You probably know this, but in case you don't: a large percentage of the raccoons in NC are rabid. I'm glad the cats aren't interested in socializing.
Happy painting or whatever the day holds.
Julie in Henderson Co.
Annie this sure is some winter. I have heard some nasty stories about raccoon's abilities to gut another animal with the hind claws.
Julie no I did not know a good percentage of raccoons in NC were rabid. I know my second thought after seeing the varmint on the deck was it is time for the kitties second rabies shot.
That is right Christopher. Back in my Grandfathers day when they went "coon" hunting they had to be careful with the dogs as a "treed" "coon" can kill a dog fast.
"Coon" was hunted for food.
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