#Ephemeral pond in lamar valley Patch#
#Ephemeral pond in lamar valley full#

So far, my imagination has the animal standing in the muddy patch with its two front feet. The second track in the dirt patch was 3˝ wide and almost 3.5˝ long. The first individual track I measured was 3˝ wide. These are the two tracks I found in the dirt area on the concrete sidewalk. We measured and stalked the tracks like field experts, really cool field experts, who measure tracks in their neighborhood greenbelt with tape measures and stuff for real while neighbors walk by with strange looks on their faces. We went back to the site to measure tracks. “That’s nice, dear.” When she realized that I failed to fall for her façade, she took another tack. When I announced to the Enthusiastic Assistant that WE were going back to measure some tracks, she tried to hide her exuberance behind a gaping yawn. Dog was more likely, but even I could walk 11 miles, so a Mountain Lion wasn’t completely crazy, right? However, I also saw a Great Dane along this greenbelt that the owner said weighed 180 pounds.Īs I rushed home to retrieve a tape measure, rulers, field guides, and my Enthusiastic Assistant, I could not decide which animal the tracks belong to. This big cat was seen in January 2019 about 11 miles from where I found my tracks. This came up on the Austin American-Statesman YouTube channel. I went to The Google for help to see if a large cat was even possible in this area. Of course, a large cat was way more unlikely, even though I did not see any claw marks in the print above. In a thick patch of mud on the sidewalk, I found more tracks!Īt this point, because of the size of the track there were really only two options: large dog or large cat. I kept my secret to myself and kept searching. I’m sure they were wondering what this old guy was doing stalking up and down the sidewalk on his hands and knees looking at that dirt. People walking on sidewalk quickly averted their eyes when I looked up at them as they passed by.

I went back to the beginning of the trail and carefully searched some more. The mud on the animal’s feet finally wore off and the last print was barely visible. I paced off the length of the trail at an estimated 48 feet.

#Ephemeral pond in lamar valley full#

I looked around for some more prints and found a trail of them on the sidewalk: Full Stride Who made this print? What kind of animal might it be? Canine? Feline? Raccoon? Possum? Anything else? So, take a moment to think about what your first impression might be.

I backtracked along the path until I found the track, a mud print on the cement actually. “Stop and go back and look at those tracks!” my Brain replied with unnecessary urgency. Just as I was about to congratulate myself on my expansive bird-song knowledge, this “conversation” happened. A cardinal was singing and a crow called in the distance. As I walked along the path I was seeing lots of muddy paw prints on the concrete. On January 25 th I was walking along the greenbelt path in our neighborhood, burning calories like a fiend, while observing nature with a keen eye.