Crisp but sunny afternoon sit

I crept into my Sit Spot from a new angle today. There were many people about so I quickly ducked off the trail and into a swampy watery thicket of thorny brambles. Don't worry, I wasn't too harmed... but I suspect that no one would want to follow me into the forest from the approach I took. Thus, it was perfect.

Upon arriving at my spot I immediately noticed the hair on the ground! It was definitely from a mammal. The questions came at me like a raging river, then some observations:
- What animal?
- How long ago?
- Was this a kill site?
- Did something bed down here and scratch the hair off itself?
- Why is there only white hair?
- What lives around here? Deer, coyote, cougar, bear, mouse, shrew...
- The hair is longer
- Are there any tracks?
- How did this animal approach this spot?
- Did I lead an animal here?
- Did I find an animal's sit spot?!

The quiet in the forest eventually soothed my brain chatter and questioning as I nodded off while leaning against my cedar tree. I found the strength to keep my eyes open for a bit and noticed new destruction at a "floating log." This was a tree that died and became a snag which eventually lost grip with the group and fell. It remains at an angle, however, because a different stump caught it's fall.

I explored the new wood chips and the newly created holes. Was this a bear? More likely to be the Hairy (or Downy) Woodpecker that I have so often seen in this patch of wood. Remember the Northern Flicker that has eluded me? Could be sign from her also. There was some dry material, leading me to believe that it happened very recently... even earlier today. Truth be told, I haven't been to my spot in three whole days, so I can't know exactly when this occurred.

I looked from different angles (using this word a lot in this post) and eventually found the perfect nest. A tucked away nook that is protected and seemingly dry. There was collected moss there and some bark and fine wood chips too. Is this the work of a rodent who nests in the nook or perhaps from one of the birds who frequents the area?

Then looked to another snag, also with recent work done. Tremendous amounts of debris was ripped out of the base on the snag, more than I remember seeing before. And from three different angles. I immediately thought this was the work of a black bear. I found a hole that I attribute to a possible claw. Being that these two sites are only 20 feet from one another was it the same critter? It's warmed up recently... could be a bear... deer hair near here too?

No conclusions for sure, but most likely not a bear. I want to go back to the second snag though and collect some of the very fine wood powder that still remains inside. I think it was dry... maybe it will make for good fire starter.