animal tracks

[lonesinker]

Hi people
has anyone ever noticed animal tracks in a mudpit...I went for a long hike last week and walked up to one of my choice bogs and noticed the tracks of a fox or coyote that entered the pit then the tracks just lept out in almost the same direction but in long strides...makes you think even forest creatures take a wrong step once in awhile

[MuddyEddie]

He was probably chasing after the road runner! Meep meep fthhhhwt!

Eddie

[Nessie]

Oh, yes. Can't be sure what they all are, but some of my marshes even have narrow animal trails going through the cattails and sedge mats...which, actually, I can follow, myself.

Now and then, I see a small furry head traveling through the water. Somebody is swimming...a beaver?

Animals make trails that get me into good places. Not just in the mud but through the woods. The trails are especially easy to follow in spring and fall.

The most puzzling tracks on the edges of the marsh, though, are from deer. I've never seen a deer actually stuck in the mud. Considering what a grown deer weighs and that it's supported only by small hooves...you think those little hooves would punch through the soft crust right into the muck beneath. But even where I know it's deep under that crust, their hooves never leave a track that goes down that far.

Deer must be mighty smart about not letting that happen.

A deer even startled me once. I heard a big snort, a loud rustle of marsh grass...he was probably sleeping on a cushion of flattened weeds, but away he went when I interrupted him! I hardly even got much of a look at him!

Nessie

[schlamm]

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[Mynock]

Any water source will draw animals. Nothing to worry about unless it's a bear track. Coyotes, Foxes and other smaller predators wouldn't dream of taking on a full grown human even if they are stuck in mud at the time.

[Nessie]

Downside is that it cannot be fitted with shoes and will wear down to being lame if forced by man to remain on harder surfaces in no time.

Okay. I won't try to do it.

No "Hi-ho, Bambi -- AWAYYYY!" for me. I won't try to saddle him.

A perfect example of the superiority of cloven vs solid is in the comparison of a moose vs a horse.
Mr Moose will happily trot through a bog or muskeg that will have the horse in need of a rescue, horse hooves punch straight in and get poor traction unless equipped with mud cleats

Sounds like the difference between sensible, thin, light mud footwear (my aqua socks) and heavy work boots. I wonder if the fact that the cloven hoof spreads also provides a more accurate feel of the ground than a solid hoof would.

Since I have heard reports of bogged cows, though...gonna bet it also helps to be a wild animal with a lifetime of negotiating wild terrain. Domesticated animals, poor things, only walk where humans let them.

Nessie

[schlamm]

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[WubbleFromAus]

Mudpits are a paleontologist's best friend.

Much of what we know in the fossil record has been thanks to animals walking across mud leaving footprints. Of course the unlucky ones that unfortunately get stuck and submerged do so for our benefit many millions of years later when we dig them up.

One thing that never seems to be taught in schools these days is that throughout geological history, there have at regular intervals been intelligent life forms of some sort or another who collectively develop a fetish for mud (most commonly the sinking behaviour of the females of their own species) and had created mud pits in similar fashion to Studio 588 for their own pleasure, whether it be sinking in them themselves, or viewing the sinking of others.

Unfortunately there is no paleontological record of these intelligent species as each species has demonstrated their capacity for intelligence by always being able to extract themselves from the mud pits (or perhaps viewers would extract them if rescue were necessary). When they did die, their remains were quite likely burnt in a ritual similarly practiced by the Jedi a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.

Most species that are unearthed in such mud pits by modern day paleontologists were actually species that were curious participants, but failed the intelligence test.

Therefore, I conclude that the fossils of all species discovered to date lacked the intelligence to get out of the pits, and would have therefore lacked the intelligence to create them in the first place. Additionally the species that left footprints were not suited anatomically (mainly due to their diminutive size or their inability to find deep mud) and would also be deemed lacking in the necessary intelligence to dig the pits.

I don't think this answers the question at all, but it's food for thought explaining the importance of animal footprints on mud pits and how such an insignificant thing has led to us understanding natural history as we understand it today.

Cheers.

Wubble.

[lonesinker]

Hey People
interesting comments,although Im thinking most animals dont like the mud thing at all,especially cows, the sitution of one of them getting stuck could be serious.
I have a memory while horseback riding years ago at this stable near here and this place has closed down since, I was around 12-13 and a bunch of us went trail riding and some of the trails were completely mud covered, I ended up having my horse get stuck, it was sortve funny, I was following the owner thru this trail and my horse was belly deep in soft mud,the horse wasn,t stuck because her hooves were going up and down while standing in the same spot,I think the mare was nervous about going in further, The owner noticed I wasn,t catching up to her so she came back and guided my horse out, luckly she was wearing tall rubber boots...looking back at it probably wasn,t smart horseback riding in mud season...

[Nessie]

One notable event was a steer that got hung up in the branches of a tree, I can only assume it either took a flying leap off of an embankment to get there or something briefly shared the ability of flight with it....the only recourse was to lop the branches off with a hand saw which was entertaining in and of itself.

Ya know, I can understand an animal getting stuck in a mudpit but...a steer in a tree, no, I can't figure that out at all.

They can't even climb!

I bet that was fun for you (not!).

Nessie