Whatzit?

  While out in my daughter's field, we came across an animal track that was not immediately recognizable.  What was it?  Our first thought was a cat.  Yep, sure seems like a cat footprint since there were no claw marks visible.  So, perhaps a bobcat had made its way through the soft mud.  Then again, something seemed a bit amiss with this idea.  The footprint had five toes.  Cats usually have four toes that are visible in a track with the fifth toe high enough on the foot that it does not leave a mark.  So...what else could this be?  We checked print charts to see if we could identify the critter.

  Most of the tracks that we found confirmed the fact that cat tracks do only show four toes.  BUT!  If the cat made the track with the front paw them placed the back paw into the same track, the toes could show up as five!  Well, we pondered this fact and were still not sure.  What in the world could this be?  Well, the best thing we could think to do was ask my brother.  I have one brother who seems to be able to identify most critters by their tracks, sounds or smells. Yep, he is just that good. So..we sent the picture to him in hopes that we would find the identity of our elusive print-maker!  Do we honestly have a five-toed cat roaming about the area?  Could be!  One came to visit the Little Bayou House several years ago.  "Blinky" was a five-toed, cross-eyed, Siamese mix.  (Sure miss that cat!)

  Robbie and Elizabeth's place is so full of neat things! We tromped around the field and through the woods.  There are more wildflowers, mosses and critters than I could shake a stick at!  What fun this is!  I do think I should find more excuses to come explore here!  Hopefully by tomorrow, I will know the elusive, catlike critter's name and we can at least know what is tromping about after dark!