Tracking the Wild Beasts

Our good friend, KB, has always shared on her blog the amazing wild animals in her world and she has asked if we spot tracks in the snow.  Admittedly, KB is far more skilled than our hu-dad in identifying tracks and describing the behaviors of these creatures.  Plus she can show actual pictures of piles of scat and turn it into a good story.  We are very impressed with that skill since most of our stories turn into piles of scat, if you know what we mean.  But we digress.

Recently, we were out in the snow and spotted some most interesting tracks and were able to follow the tracks and get actual pictures of the wild beast.  We are not sure if this is quite as good as videos of mountain lions or pictures of hibernating bears.  Actually, we are quite sure it is not that good.  But we will still make the attempt.  Come with us now as we go deep into the wilds.

The first tracks we saw were in melting snow, thus it was hard to make out the finer features.
But in this close shot, you are able to see the distinct pads of the paw. Its size is impressive and we knew we were close to the beast.
And then, in the distance, we spotted the animal fleeing across the open spaces.
We were able to take a side trail and get in front of it. See its majesty, those sparkling eyes. And then . . .
It rose to its full height and struck its stunning pose. Yes, we had captured a photograph of the elusive Rusty the Rooster.

******************************************************

Grins – with all due respect to KB – May the Year of the Bobcat rule!

28 Comments

  1. Mochi on March 2, 2010 at 1:15 am

    Rusty is such a cutie! πŸ™‚ I just love that last pic! Ahhhh and the paw prints…LOVE IT!

    Mochi

  2. Maery Rose on February 25, 2010 at 9:00 pm

    I came on over from KBs blog to check out your tracking story. Pretty intense! Your dogs are beautiful! I’ve recently started skijoring and see quite a few huskies on the trails. They seem to love to be out in the snow pulling.

  3. Holly and Khady on February 25, 2010 at 1:39 am

    Ahhhhh!! Very sweet pics indeed! I think Kiska is so adorable, cuz I lover her fluffy fur ears!

    Holly and Khady

  4. achieve1dream on February 24, 2010 at 11:45 pm

    Great post! Rusty is very handsome in that last picture.

    Storm

  5. Velcro on February 24, 2010 at 10:16 pm

    I’ve never done any tracking! What fun to be able to see all those tracks in the snow!

    Woof

    velcro

  6. Life With Dogs on February 24, 2010 at 9:03 pm

    Almost as good as an Elvis sighting! πŸ™‚

  7. LizzyBean on February 24, 2010 at 8:14 pm

    Hehehe! That is some good tracking!

  8. Twinkietinydog on February 24, 2010 at 7:11 pm

    Rusty the Beast! Funny, but I too have a paw odyssey to share with you and kb, well everyone. Please tell Natasha that we would love to have her over at our barn with Zamiro, Ringo and all their furiends. We don’t have snow though, so she’d have to bring some. Other than that, we’re great hosts.
    Twink!

  9. norwood on February 24, 2010 at 6:53 pm

    ha the rooster rooing himself! ha.. i tracked myself again today too! Nice work!
    norwood

  10. Clive on February 24, 2010 at 6:35 pm

    We enjoyed that!

    You couldn’t find anything better than Rusty!

    take care
    Clive and the NSLM

  11. Ruby's Raiser on February 24, 2010 at 6:24 pm

    Ha! Very cute post. What a fine specimen to have tracked down. πŸ™‚

  12. Huffle Mawson on February 24, 2010 at 5:03 pm

    I had no idea Rusty was so elusive!

  13. Kari on February 24, 2010 at 4:18 pm

    I do miss looking at all the different tracks we had when living in AK

  14. Wild Dingo on February 24, 2010 at 3:49 pm

    lovin’ what kb said about rusty’s gait! LOL. Love that last photo of Rusty “stacked”! I think Juno has a crush on him…

  15. chester on February 24, 2010 at 3:04 pm

    Finally! I thought I’d never find the comment box. Some trackin’ dog I am.

    Anywhoooo…thanks for stoppin’ by my blog so often and now that I’ve found you AND SAVED THIS PAGE I hope to get back more often as my schedule allows. I’ll tell my secretary to pencil you in often in my appt book.

    You look like loads of fun and adventure and I am all about fun and adventure!

    Woofs and adventurous slobbers,
    Chester ;0=)

  16. The OP Pack on February 24, 2010 at 2:59 pm

    You had us going for a minute there:) But Rusty – a wild beast???? Now that was a good laugh:)))

    Woos, Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara

  17. Sierra Rose on February 24, 2010 at 2:31 pm

    Fantastic!! Funny you posted, we are now always super alert to paw prints when we are up in the snow, due to KB’s postings! But, we are usually spotting crows, and other furries…perhaps Rusty’s too…will look for the ‘unorganized gait prints’!! πŸ™‚

    Hugs and snaggle-tooth kisses,
    Sierra Rose

  18. Cheryl, Indiana, Shingo & Molly on February 24, 2010 at 12:31 pm

    How exciting!! You guys are PAWSOME trackers!!

    Woofs and Kisses!

  19. Amber on February 24, 2010 at 12:05 pm

    Funny stuff….Rusty is quite the looker! πŸ˜‰

    Nala

  20. Khyra on February 24, 2010 at 11:54 am

    The one!
    The only!!
    The Rusty!!!

    Hugz&Khysses,
    Khyra
    PeeEssWoo: AND we khan’t furget to inkhlude: The Hu-Dad on that! We think we even HERD KB here!

  21. The Army of Four on February 24, 2010 at 10:34 am

    Hee hee hee! You had me going there!
    I knew this was going to be a fun post from the minute you said that your stories “turn into piles of scat”. Hee hee hee!
    I wish we could follow tracks and find Rusty!
    Love,
    Ammy

  22. Dennis the Vizsla on February 24, 2010 at 10:24 am

    And here I thought Rusty the Rooster was only a myth!

  23. Stella on February 24, 2010 at 10:19 am

    Rusty the Rooster is one of my favorite pup-guys.
    Totally oblivious to those around him, he goes his merry way!

    My favorite was the one where he was walking with his head in your knees and you annoyed him by changing your gait!

    Kisses,
    Stella

  24. KB on February 24, 2010 at 9:43 am

    You’ve got a person laughing like crazy in Colorado! Yes, everyone, there are photos of piles of scat on my blog! Now, if only I could photograph the smell, our dogs would like our blogs too! Just kidding…

    Great story. That Rusty doesn’t walk with a very organized gait. It looks like he sort of randomly decides what to do with each paw at the very last instant. So fitting for Rusty… always making his own rules.

  25. Kira The BeaWoootiful on February 24, 2010 at 9:21 am

    Woooos To My Rusty! Were woo leading them on or just giving them a great chase?
    -Kira The BeaWootiful

  26. MAXDOG on February 24, 2010 at 9:14 am

    Hi there, Herd!
    That is too cute for words! It reminds me of that story I heard as a child of someone walking in the snow, suddenly discovering tracks, then another set and so on…only to discover that it was himself!
    That was such a light-hearted, lovely post with a beautiful (literally) ending!
    Lotalicks
    MAXDOG IN SA

  27. Houndstooth on February 24, 2010 at 8:09 am

    *rofl* KB has that effect on us, too! We lucked out and actually had some wildlife here this week, though. I’m going to be laughing to myself about this all day! Thanks D.K. and Rusty!

  28. Farley on February 24, 2010 at 5:59 am

    Excellent tracking skills. I see an upcoming episode of National Geographic in your future πŸ™‚

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