Day Ends With Gas Attack

This opossum ("Marsi") is very much alive and asleep.  She is not a true hibernator, but will sleep for weeks in cold spells like we've had.  The first possum I've seen this winter on our front deck was on Feb. 19.  This photo was taken during the Ohio Wildlife History Family Adventure Day at Kenyon College.  The Gund Gallery and Brown Family Environmental Center at Kenyon sponsored the day, along with Ohio Nature Education (ONE) and the Public Library of Knox County and Mount Vernon.   The bear skin was donated to ONE.   Technically, the bear isn't a true hibernator either--but they do stay in their dens a lot longer than opossums, skunks, and raccoons.   The groundhog, on the other hand, is a true hibernator.  (Photo by Don Comis)

 
My day ended with skunk "gas" seeping into our living room as I read old Reader's Digest stories to my mother-in-law.  My wife smelled the gas seeping into our basement as well.

I don't know what scared it--maybe one of my cats peeked out the glass doors at it?  Or maybe it scuffled with one of two other nocturnal visitors to our bird feeders in the past four days--first, an opossum and second, a raccoon.  I finally checked and saw that none of our three "guests" are true hibernators--they just sleep long spells, even weeks, in cold winter weather.  I can see why I haven't seen or smelled much of them this winter.

I don't know if it was the cold or the wind or first dibs on attracting a mate this spring, but today I finally identified the bird I first saw in my "bluebird" birdhouse on February 19 as a male house sparrow.  House sparrows took over both of my bluebird houses last year, but I'm not sure if any babies were produced.

Otherwise my bird observations were at a low today--I didn't see any birds at my feeders when I was counting them at breakfast time.  But, when I took a nice spring-like walk/run with our dog, Friendly, I heard a hawk calling and saw it soaring in the sky near our house.  And I heard a lot of bird songs as we moved on.

When I finally got outside today, I went out looking for tracks, especially the tracks of the possum I had seen at 1 a.m.   I got an unexpected treat when I saw big paw tracks spread out single file all the way to Apple Valley Drive. The creature had come down my driveway, which I had shoveled the night before, and then crossed over to nearby woods.




I finally remembered to include a ruler in the photos of tracks and I found these were 3 inches long, enough to put them in the running with foxes and coyotes, both of which my portable tracking guide says have tracks about 2 inches long.  I'm pretty sure I can rule out the possum, although it was the only animal I know for sure was out there overnight.  My portable guide only says possum prints are about 2 inches wide and doesn't mention length.  I'll have to get a more comprehensive tracking guidebook!

Peeking out the window at 1 a.m. to check on tonight's storm--gusty winds, sleet, and snow--I saw a layer of ice-crusted snow on the front deck.  And on it, I saw a fairly small opossum searching for food from my feeders.


I guess he came out of hibernation temporarily for a snack and maybe he's been doing that awhile, but I haven't seen him or the usual raccoons and skunks I saw last winter.  Maybe this winter is so cold it's limiting their forays?  But then what is this guy doing out in this weather--unless he's getting impatient for spring?