Evening Walk On The Sudbury River

 On the 30th, I was bored after a whole weekend of making up schoolwork. I put on all my snow gear and put both my trail cameras in my backpack. I was going to walk to the fox den at night. I stopped at Wickford bridge to poke around and look at the sunset, which was pink in one direction, and orange in the other. I then continued towards Central St. and realized the sidewalks hadn't been shoveled yet, so I had a great leg workout. I was paranoid about going to the fox den at night, especially because I was going to have to cross the ice on the river, and when I was trying to set up the camera at the den, I was scared one of the parents would show up at any second to try and protect their territory. Thankfully, they were elsewhere. I smelled a skunk's spray on my way out, which I think gives a clue to what the foxes were up to.

While under the bridge, I noticed two animal tracks that I did not recognize. One was of a small rodent. Probably one of the white-footed mice that nest under a flat rock near the water's edge. Mice actually don't hibernate. Instead, they look actively for food every night and sleep under the snow during the day. The tracks that are shown on the right I realized after research, belong to a mink or cottontail...

I of course saw plenty of fox tracks around the den, and on the ice nearby. Some crossed the ice, to get to the other side of the water, some ran out into the athletic field, as a shortcut to another hole. I had previously thought it to be empty, but I think the pair may be considering using it. I put one camera at the "abandoned" den, and one at the one I had previously put my camera. I hope I get good photos of the foxes in the deep snow. I left about twenty minutes after I arrived.