The case of the disappearing moose and other mysteries of spring

Mysterious tree scrapings.

Given what appears to be a very early spring for this part of the country – warmest March ever, buds popping, no snow, there were bound to be other early signs and mysteries involved with the unusual weather around here.

This morning the tappitty-tappity-tat of a woodpecker on the house shattered the misty waking reveries. The noise drew attention to the window where a moose trundled by, close enough to touch if the window had been open. Staggering around the computer and over the elliptical took too long to catch more than that glance and by the time I reached the window, the critter had disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

Moose have been pretty rare in this distinct for the past few years and this was the first one actually observed, rather than tracks in the snow or a pile of nuggets here and there, in a couple of years.  It's spring calving time so just in case this was a cow looking for a place safe enough to drop a calf or two, I didn’t venture out into the back yard for the rest of the day. The following day a close look revealed tracks in the mud of the side yard in the direction the moose had come from. Trouble was the tracks appeared to be headed in the opposite direction. Then farther back in the yard there was one, just one, nugget on top of a pile of leaves.

Also observed through the window, another mystery besides the disappearing moose had appeared. A sizeable portion of the bark on a small tree had been rubbed or chewed off.  I have no idea when it happened, but I look through that window often enough that I would have noticed it so the guess is it's fairly recent. Given the moose sighting, the first thought was a bull rubbing his velveted antlers, but that's an autumn activity when the rut is in full blossom.

A closer observation revealed parallel grooved striations at about a 45 degree angle to the ground. That more indicated a gnawing action by a buck-toothed animal. And, because the marks were four to five feet above the ground, it had to be a climbing animal, unless moose gnaw on tree bark. About the only thing it could have been is a porcupine. They are fairly plentiful around here and this is the time of year they are moving around. Back when I was commuting every day, a sure sign of spring was when the number of porkies splattered in the road suddenly increased.

Angled striations indicate some toothieness.

All this barely visible wildlife activity reminds me of a rhyme we put in the book More Wild Critters:

When I go walking in the woods.

I never see a thing.

I never see an animal

on hoof or paw or wing,

There are some big ones out there:

that I know for fact.

So how can something big as deer,

 even hide its rack?

I guess I'll just keep walking,

ever on my guard.

Someday I hope I'll see

some kind of critter in my yard.

More Wild Critters

‪A comment from Facebook: Sharon Wright‪ We love that time in Spring when the snow finally melts enough to walk around & see who's shared the woods around the house. The distinctive porcupine gnawings on poplar, the scrapings left on poplar by moose shedding velvet or trying to dump those clumsy antlers, little piles of worm-casting poops from grouse. The thaw is coming, but slowly here north of 64. Still can't wade through our woods; maybe 2 weeks from now.‬