Oh Shit Sherlock
Having a plan is always a good idea, setting goals is often a great motivator and laying a good foundation is generally clever. Embracing life as it comes, accepting failure and letting go of expectations is wisdom.
I had a long list of Things To Do On Holiday and they did not come to pass in the ways I had hoped and planned for, but the surprises and the unplanned moments more than made up for the not-quite-there-yets.
Like my nephew learning to stand then gradually having the confidence to remove one hand from the edge of the sofa and by the end of week testing wobbly steps whilst grasping grown up fingers, achieving a specific goal isn't always as straightforward as knowing what you want to do and doing it. Especially where wildlife is concerned.
I had two particular goals, Day Zero goals in fact, planned for accomplishment during the week - seeing and photographing a Pine Marten and an Otter. I imagined I'd have it easy since our previous day-trip to the area produced an actual Otter sighting (accompanied by a slow camera) and actual Pine Marten Poop.
Perhaps I have been lulled into a false sense of security by my foxy adventures, and I confess to a somewhat self-satisfied smirk when I read the BBC Wildlife Magazine April article "How To Find Urban Foxes" - all I have to do is sit at my desk and remember to open the blind to experience a window into the life of a fox family.
The Otters and Pine Martens of Wester Ross, it seems, are intent on making me work harder.
We were in sight of the small jetty in Gairloch Harbour so often I lost count. Each time our heads turned and our necks creaked as we trained our eyes on the one spot in Scotland we definitely knew an Otter had played, and each time the water remained intact, impenetrable by Otter or our fervent wishes. I suspect I was not the only one giving this same treatment to every loch, sea loch, river and puddle in Wester Ross - anticipating a shiny head and being rewarded with a soggy rock.
In fairness, Otter had a part to play in our anticipation having placed unmistakeable and unmissable evidence of self just inside the swing gate leading to the wildlife hide at Inverewe Gardens, a spot not ten minutes walk from our holiday cottage and porridge base. I say unmistakeable... I confess that I did have to consult my new bible (Animal Tracks and Signs) to identify the following as my first ever Otter Spraint:
Yes, I have just re-sized, edited and water-marked a photo of poop just for your enjoyment. Never let it be said that I don't share my experience of life in full, or indeed that I don't own my shit. I could go on all day about shit this and shit that... or I could leave it to you to have a look for the remnants of fish bones, the oily residue and the freshness that indicates the Otter was there not very much earlier than we were.
Aren't you thanking your lucky stars we haven't progressed to smell-o-vision?
Otter illuded us for the entire week with the only other evidence of a missed opportunity being some wonderful tracks in the sands at Firemore Beach - a set winding their way down the beach to the water and another set, amongst the rocks, meandering back up the beach again.
Standing on the beach I could feel the energy of the otter and its playful gait, and in my mind's eye I could see it enjoying the deserted sands and I take pleasure in collecting the pieces of the jigsaw until I can bring the whole beastie to my blog.
~*~
Pine Marten too has kept her distance, although I have to conclude that sighting a Pine Marten might be better achieved sitting patiently alone at dusk as opposed to daytime walking with five other adults, one child in a pushchair and The GemmaDog...
For the future, I now have several choices for my dusk rendevous since I have found (and photographed) almost enough Pine Marten Poop to make a whole Pine Marten. I saw Pine Marten droppings on every woodland walk we did but I will refrain from sharing them all with you and mark the trail only the once:
These weren't fresh, but the Pine Marten had eaten something furry...
~*~
In the interests of dealing with all the shit in one post, here is one last picture - red fox droppings that appeared to have been left shortly before we descended the Devil's Elbow section of path within Inverewe Gardens just before a beautiful sunset..
After all it almost wouldn't be proper to post a blog without some reference to a fox, would it?
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Tags: animal tracks, beasties, droppings, fox, otter, otter spraint, otter tracks, pine marten, poop, red fox, shit, tracks and signs, vulpes vulpes, watching wildlife, Wildlife
Heh heh. My Rowan dog found some interesting poo today – must take my camera on our walk tomorrow and photograph it so you can identify it for us
Sue’s last blog post..Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-03-22
Hi Sue
Bring on the poo! Feel free to post it here and I will see what I can do – France having poopy creatures we don’t have in Scotland will make it interesting
The poo has vanished. I suspect one of my foul dogs of having eaten it
Sue’s last blog post..10 things I would like to be reincarnated as
Hee hee well as interesting as I find wild poo – it’s not *that* appetising ;o)