I have been walking on the old farm for many years, now, and thought I had completed the list of animals that are here. I’ve seen turtles, possums, all kinds of song birds and raptors, great blue herons, skunks, red and gray foxes, deer, turkeys, well, you get the idea. But now there is more. I was down by the river looking for signs of spring with friends, when we spotted a tree stump bearing the unmistakable signs of beaver teeth. As we looked around, it was obvious that these beavers had been very busy. They have already made a significant pile of wood, extending from the bank out into the water. 

There were tracks in the sand away from the river, but no sign of the beasts themselves. I will be on the lookout for them, and can’t wait to see how far they get. Speaking of tracks, all the snow we had this winter gave me a pretty good picture of all the animals that move around my house. There are definite trails from the woods to the east side of the house, around the front, and around the west side. Oddly enough, they don’t seem to move across the yard at the back of the house, which would be a shorter trip. I would like to know why, but that might be one of those unknowable things. 
ome of the tracks I saw were mice, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks and dogs. The dog was around several times, and came right up on my doorstep. I t was a very large dog, judging by the size of the foot prints. I assume it was a neighbor’s dog, someone who forgot we have a leash law in Kingston. I don’t like stray dogs on my doorstep, but more than that, I think of all the damage they can do to the wildlife, and that’s just not right.