Up to the overlook

As advertised, Haggis and I went up to the overlook above Howes Pond today. The day was warmer yet than yesterday, plus we were up at higher altitudes, in a shady corrie where the "sun don't shine" much, and so there hadn't been as much freeze thaw action on the snow surface, while some snow was definitely thawing in the warm sun, so I had to wear snow shoes much of the time, for about two-thirds of the hike.

The first shot shows one of the post-holes that convinced me it was time to put the snow shoes on. This was a tough hike, and I would have had to turn back without the snow shoes.

Then there's the view, with and without clown-feet.

A shot of Haggis posing. Such a poseur. He's a very photogenic dog, and the problem is, he knows it.

Last but one, the unobstructed view, which is what we went up for, right? That and the exercise.

Finally, what animal has five toes on each paw, is about 18-24 inches long, has rounded paw prints about 3 inches across, and can either walk step by step in its own tracks or bound along two-by-two like an otter? The answer at the bottom for those who like to puzzle out animal ID problems

When we had gotten back and had some lunch and a nap, we went out to the barn to feed, and noticed Jewel the ewe-l was off her feed. About time. Her bag is fit to burst, big as a balloon and as pink as a baboon's bum. So we separated her into a lambing pen. We being me and a couple of chickens, the other half of this farm business being off in Nicaragua swanning around in the tropical sun. Luckily, Jewel is not a difficult sheep.

We were observed by our neighbors, mom and two girls, who came to see the lambs and get some eggs. I'm not sure they were ready for the sight of a fat middle aged man wrestling with a pregnant sheep.

Sounds like the kind of thing a Yorkshireman would do!

Once the girls were gone I watched Jewel closely for a while. The lambs have definitely shifted. There's these two big hollows on either side of the small of her back that were not there yesterday, while her belly almost reaches the ground.






































































The answer to the animal ID? I think these are fisher tracks. Click on the photo to enlarge it. A fisher is a giant polecat/weasel-type thing, a mustelid, big as a house cat, that preys on porcupine, and is often called a "fisher-cat" here in Maine, although not at all feline. I worked with fisher reintroduction when I was a biology student in Montana, and am familiar with their habits.

The only thing that give me pause is that the animal was stepping along one foot at a time in its own tracks. Fisher do sometimes walk along like that, but their usual gait is a sinuous bound. If I'd gone further and seen the typical side-by-side bounding gait prints of a fisher, that would have clinched it.

Here's a link to a copy of the IFW tracking poster. See what you think. The tracks were quite large, about 3 or even 4 inches across, almost too big for a fisher, so if there were only four toes, they could be lynx. And there could be four, since they were obscured by the animal having stepped in its own tracks. It's hard to tell. But fun to try.