The vast majority of prints are deer and red squirrels, along with the tridents and feather marks from birds hopping around to feed on seeds. Rabbits, weasels and small rodents also leave their marks enough to know they’re around, as does at least one bobcat.

But canines have been rare. So when I went to tote birdseed to the feeders Monday morning and saw tracks with paw pads across the driveway, it was enough to take out the phone and ruler for photos.

They seemed large for a bobcat, yet the ones up front didn’t appear to have toenails, a sign of canine rather than feline. More imprints could be found on the path to the feeder, around the feeder and in a line through the deeper snow from the woods to the west. These tracks did, indeed, show impressions of toenails, and a re-inspection of the driveway set revealed a faint trace of the nails as well.

I photographed the individual tracks and the distance of the stride, using the ruler for perspective, prepared to forward them to the Department of Natural Resources’ predator expert to see if he could confirm what I’d hoped — that perhaps we had a wolf visit.

The line of tracks as the canine loped across the snow to the backyard bird feeders.

But then we had the ice and snow Wednesday that knocked out power at Six Mile Lake for nearly 24 hours, leaving us with no internet connection along with no lights or running water — the well pump is electric.

And after power was restored about noon Thursday, I had other things to focus on, so I wasn’t able to email those photos. As it turns out, the delay probably was for the best.

Friday morning, I pulled the memory card from our backyard trail camera to download photos for the week — and there it was, my large canine, galloping through the lakefront grasses.

It was one of the very handsome pointers that belong to a neighbor to the east of us.

It must have managed to elude the invisible fence that neighbor has set up that usually keeps the dogs from stepping out on the road, which is why I didn’t think dog when I saw the tracks.

And while the time stamp on the photo was Monday evening, I have to reason the dog appearing on the camera the same day as the prints in the yard — granted, at different times — would make it unlikely both wolf and dog would be wandering the neighborhood.

It’s the second time this winter I’ve gotten excited about canine prints around the property only to learn it was domestic rather than wild. The last time a few weeks ago, I thought it was a fox only to have a dog show up at my mom’s quilt shop door — different neighbors were dogsitting for their son.

It also would not have been the first time for a wolf. We had one that looked the part turn up on the same backyard trail camera in June of last year. That one I did send to the DNR, which responded that while a bit blurry because it was taken during nighttime, the shape and length of leg all fit the bill for wolf rather than coyote. It has not appeared since so probably was just passing through, perhaps a young male dispersing from its parental pack.

I also had a wolf sprint across Six Mile Lake Road last fall as I was driving home from work. That was the first I’ve seen on Six Mile Lake Road in the nearly six years I’ve been here.

I know some would prefer they stay far away. I suppose another clue this latest canine wasn’t a wolf might have been how much it moved around the buildings: the house, the garden tractor shed, the quilt shop. I would expect a wolf to be more wary of getting too close to humans.

As with our resident bobcats, we, too, have nothing really to lose if a wolf decided to check out the property — no dogs, no poultry or other livestock, just three strictly indoor cats. We have the luxury of thinking it’s cool. I understand for others it wouldn’t be.

So perhaps it’s just as well this “wolf” turned out to be a dog that decided to roam.

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The ice and snow this past week definitely drove the birds to the feeders, as the early migrants continue to come back to the region.

The red-winged blackbirds have gone from a few individuals to flocks, as have the common grackles. The finches — common redpolls, American goldfinches, even some pine siskins — have picked up in number as well, drawn to the thistle seed feeder. A few Canada geese and mallards have been on the open water where Six Mile Creek flows out of Six Mile Lake, along with a trio of trumpeter swans, but so far no common or hooded mergansers that also tend to return when the ice still dominates the lake. Perhaps next week, even though it’s supposed to turn colder.

Harrier hawks were hunting the large field on the north side of M-69 just past North Dickinson County School. I heard killdeer this week in Iron Mountain.

The pace continues to pick up. Who knows what the next week will bring, as March moves into April.

Betsy Bloom can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 240, or bbloom@ironmountaindailynews.com.