Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Always questions



At the mendenhall meadows, there all these mounds. I used to assume they were anthills. This summer upon further investigation, no ants were found when i dug through a hill. All i found was clay. Little granules of light grey clay.

Now what are those mounds? Are they abandoned anthills, are they upheaves from the frost?
Now thinking here, i wonder if they all are bare clay, or are some overgrown with grass, trying to picture it that seems the case.

7 comments:

Cicero Sings said...

I have no answers for your little mounds but I do love that second picture ... the colours!

jozien said...

mounds:) thanks Cicero

Brian said...

Hey wild one
Do you have moles in the yukon ? They make little mounds, everything's nice and white in your world now :)Brian(:

christopher said...

I am with Brian, something like a ground squirrel or a gopher.

Claudia said...

i also have no answer for the mounds but i for sure LOVE the pictures - they are breath-taking

jozien said...

Thanks, but no moles here and gophers didn't dig them, as they always leave a little door, with a little stoop to stand on, enjoying life go by.
We did see one gopher yesterday! most of them are sleeping now.

dogsled_stacie said...

Since I have LOADS of those hills in the meadows around my place, I can tell you they are anthills. I don't know if they're all active though, but a lot of them are. Interesting that there were no ants in the ones you looked at.

I had bears through here this summer and they were digging apart the little hills to get at the ants! I find that all around here, once it opens up into the "meadows" the soil conditions change to become sandier.