Part 2 of my explorations of Animal Tracks and Signs. It wa a beautiful out, and I was lucky enough to stay out in the woods for a whole (school) day!

I went to see the Ravens that nest in the top of a Redwood tree. Below is their grand home of last year – now I hear them calling ‘CRONK, CRONK, CRONK, CRONK’ and ‘RAAAKK’. One of my ambitions is to communicate with them. Ravens have a repertoire of over 30 calls and can mimic human speech, as they have a tongue shaped like ours.

Their powerful, blunt outline is easily recognisable from below. They have a trapezium-shaped tail, unlike a crow or another Corvid. Their beak is thicker and more powerful than any other Corvid too.

Below their tree I found quite a lot of Common Rue (mutagenic and abortifacient, best left to the butterflies). Though I had a sprig in coffee in Ethiopia. I also found a big bird poo with the solid urea (white) and poo part separated, and one mangled small feather, but I couldn’t tell if it was from Raven prey.

In a sheep field, I tested which direction was best to follow a trail and matched a sheep track and sheep scat (poo) with the one in John Rhyder’s Track & Sign book. A sheep had helpfully trodden in the soft earth of a molehill. Sheep are ungulates (hoofed mammals), as are deer, alpacas, cows and horses.

I found a dead mole once. It was tiny, and very beautiful, with thick soft black fur like velvet. Moles generally only come to the surface when they are sick or their tunnels are flooded.

I followed the grass trail with the sun at my back all the way to a private fence. I wonder what made it – something smaller than a sheep, as it had squeezed under the fence! I did find some small claw marks, but not sure what they are. It might even be a ruddy dog, there are enough of them around here!

My guesses are rabbit or fox, from the terrain and size of track and hole in the fence.

Deep in the woods at Rushmere, I discovered Bark Mining Beetle galleries. I remember Lizzy Maskey showing us how you could chart the growth of the beetle grubs from the size of the tunnels. You can follow it with your finger until you get to the exit hole where they broke out of the tree (or got eaten by a woodpecker, of which there are many). The original fun maze!

On the left are some sign on pine cones. The one nibbled with a bit left on it is a Grey Squirrel’s leftover lunch. The other is being digested by an orange fungus. The acorns on the right look like a large rodent (i.e. a squirrel) has had a go at them. You can see the two big incisor marks on one of them.

I wonder if squirrels eat their favourite nuts (hazelnuts, chestnuts?) at the start of winter, and choke down the tannin-filled acorns only at the end of January, in desperation? As I have just paid all my tax, I feel kinship with them right now.

(I’ve written for Bushcraft Magazine in depth about how to prepare and eat Acorns...they make a delicious spiced cake once leached, crushed, baked and dried, then ground into flour!)

The Gorse flowers are out already, with a seductive coconut scent. Time to make Gorse Jelly and Rum! See my previous Gorse recipes post.

I found a scat full of fruit and seeds, so it might be a Badger poo, as it didn’t really smell when I picked a bit of it up on a stick and sniffed it. The things we do for science!!

Badger poop can vary a lot throughout the seasons, as badgers are omnivores and will eat worms, roots, berries, insects etc. However, badgers usually dig a latrine. So it could just as easily be a dog that has eaten some seeds.

I suspect having a kitten litter tray in my living room has damaged my sense of smell…

Lords and Ladies (Arum maculatum), our native Arum, is sending up shoots now, taking advantage of the early sun before the trees wake up. I’ve written a whole article post just on Arums and their possible uses (and toxicity). Coming soon…stay tuned.

Finally, a rotten log possibly torn apart by a Badger looking for grubs….

Hoping to get on a CyberTracker course soon to expand my knowledge. What fun one can have pushing poo with a stick!

xx Hedgewitch Kat xx