The first snow of 2013

Anyone who attended one of my talks last year (or attending one of those scheduled for this year) will know that probably the best thing about winter is when it snows:
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Not only does the river look picturesque, but there is chance to get out and to see what animals have been active at night and to try and try and deduce what these seldom seem creatures have been up to.
The most obvious are the moorhens, who have been venturing out of the river - either to avoid a predator or to try and find some food.

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Another easily identified footprint is that of the rabbits, they are  active during the day and night, so these could have been left whilst the snow was falling on the Friday. 

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Most other footprints were left by domestic dogs, but on the river bank, not a footprint, but perhaps more intriguing, what seems to a gouge in the snow - perhaps made by a long thin body...

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There are several reasons why an animal might leave the river - to hunt, to escape a predator or in this case to mark it's territory:

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Before returning to the river.

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The best way to identify an animal by it's poo is to smell it and this, despite not looking like it, had the distinctive 'jasmine smell' of an otter.

So by looking at the tracks and other signs it's possible to conclude that in the early hours of Saturday morning, an otter came out of the river, had a poo and went straight back in the river