The most-active animal on our trails

 

We are just coming out of the coldest stretch of weather this winter. We had two nights at -32 C which is about 26 below F. It seems like some animals just hunker down under these conditions, especially if they sense it is only temporary. One species that just keeps moving are the ones in this short video, taken on one of my trails.

What a wonderful day for firewood cutting

Clear skies, lots of sun, not terribly cold and no wind! I'm pulling my toboggan up this trail.

 

This is good as it gets. A heaping toboggan load of standing dry wood all from one tree

Primo white, solid, dry, balsam fir

I hit the jackpot on firewood today. The dead balsam fir I cut down had all the hallmarks of a great firewood tree -- no needles, cracked bark and boy, was it ever. The tree was surrounded closely by other living balsams so I cut it right where it stood, taking off four feet at a time letting the tree slide down vertically.

It made a heaping load in the toboggan -- too heaping, actually. I had to unload it and make two trips. 

This is what great balsam fir firewood looks like. White wood with no green wood spots. That one tree will last us several days. 

Incidentally, this is a carbon-neutral fuel. Had this dead tree fallen down and decomposed it would have released the same carbon as our burning it to heat our home.

Moose in our backyard a rare site

 

Time stamp is incorrect. The hour was actually about 6:30 a.m.

Once upon a time it wasn't unusual to find moose tracks on our 65 acres in Nolalu, Ont. But for the past 20 years there has been almost nothing but whitetail deer. Now I usually find one set of moose tracks in a year.

This cow moose was just passing through a couple days ago. She had followed the ridge behind our place until she came upon one of my trails, then followed it right to our house which is just out of sight in this photo. She then retraced her steps a bit and took a new bearing to the north. I would bet she then turned east again, crossed our road and went into the bush on the other side. Moose are very purposeful in their movements and when they come by here they seem to have some place in mind in the far distance.

This is actually the second moose I captured on a trail camera this fall-winter. The other was a bull who came by in September, also heading east.

 Does seeing two moose in a single year mean they are coming back? Hard to say but I hope so.

May a chubby rodent bring you joy today

 Happy Ground Hog Day!