Well, I realize I left the last post just hanging. I wish I could tell you we took photos of a mountain lion in the trees or giant tracks along the river, but we did not see any signs of the big cat. Below are some tracks we did see.

Here are a couple of feet. We’re guessing beaver, since we found web prints as well as the front print that looks similar to a raccoon. But we are not sure. There were a lot of prints in this area that could be either raccoon or beaver.

Here’s some more possible evidence of a beaver, however this was the only tree branch like this.

These prints appear to have a tail drag. Any guesses?

Here is the under snow trail of a vole. Duke loves to follow these trails and try to uncover the little critters. He digs his nose deep into the snow and lately has only come up with a scraped nose.

Here is one we know well, the wild turkey. Many times we come across large flocks of these big birds. One day while Chuck and Duke were out hunting mushrooms, they crept upon a large flock. Once the birds realized they were there, they took flight. Duke ran off after them, convinced he could catch one before it left ground. Not long after, Duke went missing along with the birds. Chuck was worried that a turkey hunter shot Duke. But Duke was back home eating his fresh kill. Chuck can tell the story much better, but he searched for an hour, doing a zig zag pattern, looking for an injured dog. It took awhile before Duke realized Chuck was missing. Duke came back to find him and explain that he had caught one of those dang birds and was having a feast at home.

These are really cute little tracks. I am not sure what they are. The feet consistently land side by side. It appears to be hopping. Any guesses?

Here is a super highway for what appears to be raccoons.

Nearby is a popular watering hole and possible outdoor cafe.

We headed up into the hills, knowing the moutain lion would hang out in the trees on the ridge rather than in the wide open. Here we found tracks of the mountain lion’s diet—white tale deer.

Here is a view as we climb up the ridge. You would think this would be the perfect view for a cougar. We did not find any lounging in the trees.

Here we are looking down from the ridge. Again, no big cats.

On our trek home, we found a cool treasure, a shelf mushroom growing inside a broken tree trunk. It looks like the entrance to another world.

Here is a closer look of the mushroom. Well, we didn’t have any luck on our quest, but we did have a beautiful walk and really, that is all we were after. Enjoy the weekend.

The weather has warmed up and it feels great to be outside. Today was in the lower 30s. It was cloudy, but warm enough to enjoy a walk in the woods.

We decided to follow a deer trail we call the “super highway.” It passes through our land, across the street, and into a large wooded area.

It is a beautiful trail every direction you look.

Here is a beautiful view from the ridge. The driftless region is full of ridges and rivers.

Here’s a tree rubbed by a buck.

Here is a fallen tree—post mushroom growth.

Mushrooms are beautiful even in the winter.

Now we’ve entered a majestic pine forest.

This mushroom is called Fomes fomentarius, otherwise known as the firestarter mushroom. This is the mushroom found in a pouch on the Iceman (Oetzi) near the boarder of Austria and Italy. He is a well-preserved 5000 year-old Neolithic man. They discovered his body in in 1991 in a glacier.

An inside look at the firestarter mushroom. It is also known as the tinder mushroom.

We climbed another ridge to get another view.

Duke is really enjoying the view. He’s been running up and down the ridges, chasing the scent of the deer. He did try to capture a few turkeys and a possum, but they managed to make their escape.

Here’s Chuck showing the size of this deer rub.

I am going to insert the photos for now and will add all of the text later. I just wanted to get this post started. Lots of pictures. If you live in Wisconsin, or anywhere remotely close these days, you’ll understand that it is pretty cold outside. I think it reached about 10 in the valley. But the wind has picked up and the clouds have moved in. I haven’t had a chance to enjoy the outdoors and we needed to take advantage of anything above zero. So Chuck, Duke and I headed out for a nice stroll. We followed the river, crossed a few fence lines and had an enjoyable time. Here are some photos.

I never realized before that this rock formation looks like a face.