Dear FAR,

Best of luck in Superior Court tomorrow.

As you know, we went out two Saturdays ago and had a very good time, albeit somewhat curtailed because of the treacherous conditions. We plan to go out together again and do the entire walk through the reservation. I am not sure if you post descriptions, but I wanted to relate a snowshoe hike later that week.

The carcass along the path we encountered during the hike was still there, along with some entrails. Somehow I suspect that this was the mink, which was reported to be active in the Reservation in January. I, of course, am not an expert, but I would suspect that a mink might be fussy about how much they eat. The raccoon carcass was in all likelihood a coyote kill since they would bring down a larger animal. There was quite a bit of nibbling of young staghorn sumac that the snow had bent down. The rabbits could get to it easier that way. I don't think this was a sign of deer, although I saw some tracks, but they were all nearer the entrance. As I progressed I came across the remains of a rabbit, just the white of the tail and a bit of fur. There were some feathers, my guess is breast feathers. There was also a slight depression, about 15" across, in which the remains could be found. I also found breast feathers on the tree that had fell across the path, but had been severed or cut. The bird was clearly using it as a perch. The question is whether it was a red tailed hawk, which we know to use the path and to perch near where the path passes the river, or an owl. The bird devoured part of the rabbit at the sight, then probably flew off with the carcass. There was also coyote tracks crossing the path at this point, on the edge of the silver maple forest where the red maples are. I thought at first it was the coyote, but the feathers suggest a raptor. The coyote tracks went only one way, toward the area where the pond flows into the river. We never go into this area, and it is largely unexplored, usually because it is to wet. When I went further along the path, I came across a different set of tracks, smaller than the coyote, and closer together. My guess is that these were fox tracks, though I don't know if they were grey or red fox. Probably red fox. No one had gone this far; human tracks stopped some ways back. Whoever had hiked through the snow had simply turned around. The snow as deeper toward the end, and it was probably too difficult. The tracks were in deep snow, so the animal had to have along enough legs. I also saw a culvert in the distance running under the access road from Rt 2. This is probably how the fox gets into this area. I have never seen coyote tracks here either. The fox, however, did not follow the path all the way, as we would, to the pond. The tracks veered off to the left, and may have gone along the pond edge, another space we have never walked or explored. Stephen Gillies