Tony Beard is a farmer, a broadcaster and an entertainer. Each month he completes another page of his Dartmoor Diary. Hullo there, This month we go tracking some of the countryside's wildlife and there's an experiment you can try that can be lots of fun...

TRACKS, TRAILS AND SIGNS IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
There is a saying which makes one feel a little uncomfortable, that within 30 feet of everyone, everywhere, there is a rat or two or three.

Beastly filthy animals, capable of spreading disease and causing devasting damage to property and wildlife as well.

All animals are by nature cautious towards man and the rat is no exception if truth be known. All wild creatures see us and are aware of our proximity long before we see them. It is only after a fall of snow when venturing out doors the next morning and using our powers of observation, that we can realise what an immense amount of activity has taken place around us during the hours of darkness.

The Devon countryside is full of wildlife like this pheasant

The rat with his four footmarks and a scratch mark between each set caused by it’s tail, the distinctive rabbit marks of two foot prints beside each other and two following behind them virtually in line. The birds leave their mark too, a chance to notice the difference between those with webbed feet and those without, the pheasant is another that leaves a mark behind due to its long tail touching the ground with each step.

Notice how and where a bird lands and takes off, the bigger birds often leave a mark where their extended wings have touched the snow in take-off. Brer fox with feet marks in an almost straight line, the rear feet having been placed in the very spot that the front feet have just left. The larger animals too, both wild and domesticated leave foot prints each one being so distinctive. Was the horse shod or not?

Take a trip onto Dartmoor as Tony Beard and John Govier meet Uncle Tom Cobley Click here to listen Real 28k Real player required. Download here

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