On the weekend, I took my friend Mark up to Bow Lake to go snowshoeing. It’s a dramatic spot, and there’s always at least a few wildlife tracks around. We saw traces left by snowshoe hares, white-tailed ptarmigans and pine martens, but there were also the signs of some other creature…
The mystery trough…
We found a trough in the snow, with pigeon-toed tracks running down the middle of it. Whatever left the tracks behind had to be relatively slow, and relatively heavy, and at that elevation, there’s only one creature that fits the bill: a porcupine.
I have to admire this one. We were at almost 2000 metres, and the snow was 165 cm deep. That’s one tough porcupine. I’m sure it is looking forward to spring, when it can switch from eating bark and the needles of evergreens to much more digestible leafy plants.
Outta my way – I’ve got a date with some salad!
