Freshly fallen snow opens a different kind of window on the activities of our wild neighbors.
Animal tracks in fresh snow are often easiest to identify. (Courtesy Jeff Kelley)
For those of us who love to observe nature, wintertime offers lots of special and fun opportunities. For example, snow makes it easier to see some animal signs. Tracking can tell you which animals have been there before you and a bit about what they were doing, usually overnight while you were cozy in bed.
It doesn’t take much knowledge or equipment to learn about winter tracking… a decent basic guidebook, a ruler, and some gumption will get you started. The best time to go is during a warm spell after a dusting of fresh snow—the prints will be nice and clean and easier to identify. And you can practice in your own backyard or even a local park.
Every species of animal leaves behind a unique trail… you can easily learn the basics of track patterns, footprint shapes, width of tracks, and spacing between tracks. With practice, all of these clues will help you to identify which animals left them behind.
Soon you'll realize that tracking is much more than simply identifying footprints. The more you understand what you’re looking at, the more the winter landscape reads like a storybook. A snowshoe hare foraged in dense woodlands, nipping off buds and twigs. A mouse made a daring dash across an open meadow at night, only to be taken by an owl that left its own wing prints behind.
Knowing just a little about animal tracking can greatly enrich your wintertime outdoor excursions. And if you want to learn even more, there are plenty of workshops available. See you out there!
