Taking a "walk" with Aussie...

About 5 days ago it finally got above freezing so I thought I'd take advantage of it and drive out to that land in Kansas. I was really anxious to see what kind of tracks were in the snow before the snow melted (although I'm kind of thinking at this point the snow will never melt). I've been wondering what kinds of animals visited the property because with snow you have real evidence.

I already knew there would be some evidence for one visitor. Aussie. But what other tracks would I find...deer, bobcat, raccoon, human, squirrel? Let's say I was a little unprepared to see this...

See all those tracks? Those are ALL Aussie tracks. Every one of them belongs to that one dog.

I just had to laugh. There were absolutely no other tracks I could see that were not Aussie's. I thought I might as well follow where she had been to see what she found so darn compelling.

I noticed she did not cross the creek and left the snow around it untouched. Thank you Aussie. She left a very pretty scene for me to photograph.

There were lots of woodpeckers in action and the sound of the creek was extra gurgly as the melting ice travelled quickly through and around the snow.

Lots of peaceful prettiness.

I thought I'd follow Aussie up a hill.

That dog stayed on course. It looked like there was some tree sniffing now and then but Aussie pretty much stayed on her trail.

These were the only other tracks I saw. I'm not even sure what they are. A small raccoon? A squirrel (I have yet to see any squirrels out there though)? Whatever it was, I only saw tracks of the hind feet so maybe it hopped away upright and into a tree when it suddenly saw Aussie. Whatever it was, those little tracks must belong to something extra cute.

I made it to the top of the hill and I could see that Aussie was heading in the direction of the neighbor who lives south of me. Aussie was introduced to Pat and his 27 horses a month or so ago when a friend of mine and I were out stomping on the land. Oh Aussie. I hope you were good. You could have been better when we were being introduced individually to all those horses but you decided to show everyone that you could growl. Pat said you'd learn to get used to the horses soon enough. I hope you did. I hope you've been welcomed when you go back to visit every day. Oh Aussie.

Anyway, the snow was 12-15 inches deep and I was getting wet and cold so I followed another one of Aussie's trails back down the hill. I had no idea what the terrain was like under me so I felt safe stomping back directly on Aussie's tracks.

Aussie didn't join me that day but I guess you could say I kind of went for a "walk" with her. I'm thinking she showed up later, followed my tracks, and then went on a "walk" with me. We may have been several hours to a day late in seeing each other but I still consider it time shared in the company of my new friend. :-)