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.

A couple of weeks ago, I took a walk with Sebastian and Aaron along the stream. While wandering, we noticed some pretty big prints.

I did not have a ruler, so I used my hand to give a size comparison.

Duke, our 90 lb dog, was with us and his prints seemed small in comparison. (We also found some scat of a carnivore.)

I don’t know if this scat is related to the print or not. There were other samples that I wish I would have taken photos of — larger and fuzzy.

So what could it be? A coyote is too small….a wolf?…a mountain lion (Puma concolor schorgeri, also known as cougar)?

It was cold and the three of us didn’t need to find a mountain lion today.

Several weeks later, Chuck and I went on a print-tracking adventure — in search of the big cat.

According to a 2003 study done by UW-Steven’s Point’s Department of Natural Resources, “Despite the lack of direct evidence of cougar presence in Wisconsin, it is likely that they will soon appear in the state, and may already occur here.”

UWSP put together a study on cougar sightings between 1994 and 2003.

The red square around that green dot is where we live.

Notice the green square of probable sightings—our backyard. Now this is getting more exciting.

Chuck and I walked in the same area of the first track sighting. The weather has since rained, snow melted, wet snow frozen and more new snow. It has been several days since any fresh snow, so we knew the tracks wouldn’t be the best. But, we brought along our trusty guide, “Scat and Tracks of the Great Lakes,” and our protector, Duke. Also known as the dog who runs through all tracks so it is hard to identify them.

Stay tuned and I’ll show you what we saw.