Snowed under

We had snow every weekend in December. Since we live near a river, we get a lot of wildlife tromping through our yard - deer, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons - and thus see a lot of tracks in our snow.

I was perplexed, though, when I saw this:

It wasn't a footprint, but a raised area, presumably a burrow. And they were all over the front yard:

A little research with Professor Google suggested that it might have been a shrew tunneling through the snow. I've never seen a shrew in our yard, thank heavens, but it wouldn't surprise me.

In other news, the Iowa Caucus is over and all of the presidential candidates have left our fair state. We no longer get relentless phone calls or stacks of promotional mail from Hillary and Mitt and Barak and Rudy. (As a politically diverse household, we get pitches from EVERYONE.) In fact, the day after the caucus, we got NO mail and NO phone calls. It was better than Christmas.

Also, as soon as they left, the weather warmed up and the snow started melting. Seriously.

Look at this sweet face. Is this the face of a kitty who would eat the new growth on the dracaena I have been trying to resuscitate?

Why yes, yes it is.