Thousand of tiny tracks in the snow - mostly hares and deer

We had a fox in the garden before the (5") snow settled, and ran off with a magpie in his jaws. It will be more difficult for him to creep up unseen now that we're in a whiteout!

Haven't seen any foxes, but we know they are around, Sheila - one came into the porch one evening while I was on the 'phone in the hall and scared the living daylights out of all the cats. When I managed to get out and explore yesterday, which is when I took these, it was fascinating trying to work out what they all were. Deer, mostly, cats (obviously) but one set looked as if a HUGE dog had made them. The neighbours still maintain we get wolves here, but I think they are pulling my leg.

well, that's one way to get a wildlife survey; count the tracks, variety and number *s* is there an Italian version of the Hound of the Baskervilles??

Yeh, Fran, our neighbours' damned dog! It tried rushing the car yesterday and biting the tyres, but even his paws aren't as big as that!

awk! if you still have snow chains on, that should have discouraged it a bit!

We've had muntjac deer, and black squirrels, but no wolves in the garden - phew.

We have tiny little black squirrels here, too, Sheila, but rarely seen. Of course, no grey ones. There are some very small deer here, too - they call them Daini, and they could well be Muntjac: I've seen the tracks, but never the deer themselves. We often get roe deer, and we've seen fallow and red deer, too, but the latter stay away from the house. I would LOVE to see a wolf, but I would be very frightened for the cats. Daughter HAS seen one. Not here but about 20 kilometres away in the Cornu alle Scale national park. Quite a few of the neighbours have dogs which are kept chained up outside in all weathers; the other night, when there was still snow but a clear sky and a full moon, the hills were echoing with eerie howling at around one in the morning - probably hunting dogs feeling lonesome, but who knows.......?

They were talking about reintrdoucing wolves into the UK, years ago, Sheila, but there was a lot of opposition from frmers, probably with good reason, as the natural prey of wolves was also mainly killed off, in not now in very short supply - though it might save the deer culls that are proving "necessary" because their predators were removed.

Wolves have had a very bad press, all over the world; really they're very efficient byt also shy predators who don't attack humans unless in self-defence, like most animals - think I'd rather face a wolf than a dog that's been mistreated, so it's got a chip on its shoulder and likely to go for anyone who comes close! Don't know if wolves would munch on cats unless desperate; they'd tend to keep away from human habitation unless driven by severe hunger.

Of course, that implies that any wolf seen around buildings is a ravening monster! which isn't what I meant to say at all!

Any wolf that fetched up here is more likely to be labelled a raving idiot than a ravening monster! Loads of hunters , all with big guns.

grins, gotcha! I've got an old tv documentary on Spanish wolves; they were havng a really hard time of it, every time a lamb went missing it was "it's the wolf!" but with different consquences to the cartoons.