Stephen Maier
Thursday, 10 October 2009
Today, Thursday, October 10th, is the first dry day of the week. There is no rain and no moisture on the ground. It is a perfect day to venture into the woods, as the sun is out with few clouds blocking, the temperature is around 60°F, and I finally have some downtime. I approach the West Clark Woods with a mission: I want to focus on the animals and small life in the vicinity. I have had great luck over the past four weeks in these woods locating fauna and forest life and I hope today will be no different. This feeling of fortune travels throughout my body as I approach the entrance. It’s going to be a good day! I gaze ahead towards the summit of Stone Hill and I see horses and cows grazing in the land while humans walk through. Animal life should be booming today. Seeing these animals on the hill seems to confirm that the animals appreciate the weather too.
I enter the site at 1:45 p.m. and immediately seek out the large tracks I had spotted on my visit last week. I trust they will provide insight about these woods. As I traverse the woods descending the hill to the northwest, I get my first glimpse of small life. A tiny, half-inch spider with all eight legs in tact crawls across the blank page of my journal. I wish I had seen from where he had come, but just seeing him is satisfying enough. As he inspects the white paper, I wonder, Why is it that little insects like to use my things as landing pads? First a dragonfly landed on my computer. Subsequently a fly took advantage of the white keyboard. A tussock moth caterpillar somehow crept onto a page of my journal without my noticing. Now, this spider scrambles on the page… I am pleased, for my luck with the wild has yet to run out.
I follow the tracks to the path I had discovered last week. I navigate through the now familiar woods on this small trail with what seem to be horse-hoof prints. A large pile of feces, just off the trail, supports my speculation, but I refuse to conclude these are horses until I actually see a horse or two in these woods. The path leads to an open grove on a small hill with scattered eastern hemlocks. I notice a small opening at the bottom of the slope, so I pursue it. Smaller tracks lead to a tiny clearing, perhaps 5’x5’. I find an abundance of Japanese barberry shrubs and apples scattered on the forest floor. My mind wanders. What animals would eat berries and/or apples and has four-toed tracks much smaller than those of a horse? Perhaps there are foxes, coyotes, deer, or some other small animals here that visit when I’m gone.
I take a break from my investigating. I lie supine beneath the hemlocks in the grove. It only takes a minute or two before my mind begins to question again. I am certain that there are bears in the Berkshires, but do any of them call the West Clark Woods home? This would be prime real estate for them. The hemlocks are thick enough to climb; the branches appear strong enough to support their weight and the tree limbs are plentiful enough to assist in the ascent.
While I am busy thinking, several birds begin to sing and disrupt my thought processes. I wait a little while, closing my eyes to enjoy their songs and their voices seem to be growing louder. Slowly, I turn around to peak. There are about six small, brown birds with black and white faces in the thickets behind me. They appear to be searching for food. These birds were not the only wildlife keeping me company, though. On the hill in the grove, I see the tail of a squirrel darting up a tree. It suddenly stops, then begins calling up the tree. I have never heard a squirrel make a sound prior to now and I am shocked. It is now 2:45 p.m. and I decide to leave. On my way out, a small red squirrel sits on a downed tree munching on an acorn. If we could communicate, I’d tell him to enjoy his lunch. I never did see the horse, but I will be back next week with high hopes.