During late winter walks, look for signs of wildlife

A walk in the woods in early March can be just that -- a walk in the woods. Bird activity is picking up, but most other critters are still dormant or out of sight. Even the vegetation sleeps until green-up in April.
I test my observational skills on late winter walks by searching for signs of wildlife. I don't go home until I find at least one bit of evidence of wildlife activity. It's not as difficult as it might seem, even to an untrained eye.
The most obvious wildlife signs are tracks. After a snowfall, it's difficult to walk a hundred feet and not cross an animal's path. The same is true for muddy areas near streams and seeps.
The next step is identifying the tracks; that's the tricky part. A Field Guide to Animal Tracks, 3rd edition (2005, Houghton Mifflin) by Olaus Murie and Mark Elbroch and Tracking and the Art of Seeing: How to Read Animal Tracks and Sign, 2nd edition (1999, HarperCollins) by Paul Rezendes can be invaluable on winter walks.
Another easy sign to find after a snowfall are old bird nests. They look like scoops of vanilla ice cream nestled among the trees and shrubs. Among those within arm's reach, some are identifiable. Grapevine bark is usually wound into the wall of a cardinal nest. A bulky stick nest lined with finer materials may belong to a blue jay or brown thrasher. And a compact cup lined with horse hair was probably built by a chipping sparrow.
What feathers show
A pile of feathers can indicate a hawk kill. Birding-eating hawks usually pluck their prey and leave behind a telltale mass of feathers. At this time of year there are a limited number of birds present, so examine the feathers closely and look for distinguishing colors. Red feathers suggest a cardinal, house finch or maybe a male woodpecker; blue, blue jay; gray, titmouse; blue-gray, nuthatch; yellow, goldfinch; and so on.
My favorite animal signs, which can be found any time of year, are owl pellets. Great horned owls and barred owls usually consume their prey on an elevated tree branch. After eating, owls regurgitate the indigestible portions of the meal -- fur, feathers, and bones -- as distinctive grayish pellets. They accumulate under favorite perches, and sometimes a dozen or more can be found in one spot.
Take them home and use tweezers and a long needle to dissect them to learn what the owls ate. Skulls usually remain intact, so look for the distinctive curved incisors and flat molars of rodents and rabbits. This is a great project to with the kids or grandchildren to introduce the concept of predator and prey.
During snow-free periods of winter I can usually find several piles of bones. Some may be remains of a predator kill, but I suspect most are the result of collisions with cars and trucks. The victim manages to crawl into the woods before dying, and months later I find the bones.
Over the years I've found complete skeletons of deer, raccoons, cats, groundhogs, skunks and squirrels. And don't be surprised if the bones appear gnawed. Rodents often eat bones as a source of calcium.
Real treasures
Among the rarest treasures I might find on a late winter walk are deer antlers. Most bucks shed their antlers in January and, again thanks to rodents, few remain into March. Antlers are a virtual calcium bank that rodents just can't resist. Finally, the easiest take-home signs (though few will want to take them home) are droppings.
Piles of small, dark rabbit pellets are familiar to anyone who has kept a pet rabbit. Winter deer droppings can also be described as pellets, though they are larger and more numerous than rabbit pellets. When green succulent vegetation is eaten, deer scats become softer and larger. Tom turkey droppings look like long, dark corn curls (the snacks); hens deposit rounder piles.
It's not always necessary to see wildlife to enjoy it. You've just got to know the signs.
Send questions and comments to Dr. Scott Shalaway, RD 5, Cameron, W.Va. 26033, or via e-mail to sshalaway@aol.com.