I thought there were a lot of animals running around when we moved here in February, but now that it’s spring it’s like Noah’s Ark! We had a herd of mule deer traveling through our yard yesterday morning. There were at least 7 does when I drove up and I was told that was the last of a larger group. They don’t even seem to care that we’re within feet of them. I talked to one and she just looked at me as if she were listening to me, then she just walked away like I was just another tree in the woods.

We had a little bit of snow again last week and when I opened the door to the back deck there were these tiny tracks in the snow all over the deck. They were in the pattern of a rabbit–all four together rather than in a line–but one set was distinct enough to see the tiny digits. It was shaped almost like tiny hands. I know that squirrels and raccoons have similar prints, so I perused the web for images of prints similar to what I had seen to find out who my visitor was. It was all fascinating, but I couldn’t connect the impressions with the patterns. Whoever it was will likely be back, we seem to have plenty of things around that entice curious creatures.

On the subject of squirrels, I am enchanted with the little black ones we have here. I studied the Colorado wildlife website briefly when we first moved here. I enjoy learning and wanted to know whose space we were sharing. There are so many different kinds of squirrels here, I was overwhelmed. I am used to red squirrels, and maybe some gray squirrels. These squirrels are found in trees and most likely will be scolding you with an acorn between their paws. Here there are many varieties of ground squirrel.I didn’t know there were squirrels who preferred the ground. I’m wondering how I will know when I’m looking at a squirrel and when I am looking at a chipmunk. Whoever is playing in view of my front window is not interested in climbing trees, but quite enjoys the fallen kind! They are so frisky, I understand why Walt Disney made so many cartoons featuring a pair of chipmunks. They are quite entertaining.

My Mr. Fox hasn’t been very friendly, lately. The last I saw him, he was marking his scent on a small fir near the top of the southeastern slope. That was weeks ago. The majority of the activity around here includes the little chickadees. I put a feeder out about three weeks ago. These are mostly mountain chickadees, with their slightly more distinctive designs. About mid-morning there are so many of them, you can’t help but compare them to a swarm of bees. They love to chatter and flit about from feeder to tree to ground to feeder. They will share a tree, briefly, but they will not share the feeder. It is almost like a dance, the way they hop from one post to another, looking for their favorite treat. I have a favorite. He (I call him “he” because male birds are often flashier than females) is such a lovely blue/grey. Normally, they are mostly grey, with some white and black on their heads, but his body is a steel grey that is almost blue. It reminds me more of the color of the surrounding mountains (although our particular mountain is mostly red) than the other birds.

Finally, our newest find: steller jays. They are beautiful shades of black and blue. They love to announce themselves when they visit our back deck around 10:00 every morning. I have identified two that I believe are male and a female (which may be why they are so vocal), or another type of smaller  blue jay. Jays have a bad reputation, so I am ambiguous over their arrival, but they are so large and flashy they make an interesting contrast to my little chickadees.

Of course, our favorite guest was the beautiful red-tailed hawk that followed us home. I have heard that we could have eagles nearby, but so far, our hawk is the most distinctive predator to introduce itself–aside from the elusive Mr. Fox. We have heard tales of bear activity on our property and neighboring land. I would love to see a mother and cubs from afar, but my trepidation over a close encounter made me anxious about setting up my hummingbird feeder. It’s a beautiful feeder, and I couldn’t wait to put it out to entice the tiny birds, but two different neighbors’ anecdotes about the bears enjoying their hummingbird feeders made me wary. I am not of a mind to put out bear feeders.

We have heard wild turkeys, but haven’t seen them. There has been evidence of coyotes and bighorn sheep left behind recently, but we have yet to manage to catch them on our property. I can hear the woodpeckers not far from the cabin, but have yet to catch sight of them. Some kind of prairie dog ran out in front of my car (safely) just before I rounded the bend to my home, which surprised me, since I thought they were more fond of prairies. That is the breadth and width of my wildlife experience at home. Since it has only been spring for less than a week, I am sure there will be new visitors to our cabin in the woods.