The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note any observations you have made of the world around you. Insects, weather, fish, animals, birds and/or flowers. All are worthy additions to the bucket. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located.
Gooseville, WI
A lone otter passed by me, unseen, leaving a sleek pattern of luxurious wet fur and tracks of powerful webbed feet frozen on the river. It's a winding, playful trail, of six-foot long belly-slides between short airborne hops. My inner-child senses the fun of traveling on ice this way.
North American river otter tracks Lontra canadensis
Otters are known as long-distance travelers, wanderers that need at least three square miles of quality waterways within their normal sixty square mile home range.
They borrow vacant natural cavities or burrows of other animals for temporary shelter. The longest a female ever stays in one place is a few weeks in April or May when her pups are born and weaned.
They're on the go so much, searching for food from one stream to another, most of us are unaware of their presence even when they're right in our own backyard.
The midday tree shadows are interlaced on the fading otter trail and becoming shorter each day. What's happening in your neck of the woods? Got a squirrel in your attic? Unfortunately, I do.
Everyone's welcome here. Your turn.