Tracking Primer

It's tracking time! Fresh snowfall creates a blank canvas where wild residents of backyards, woods and pastures inadvertently record their activities – traveling, hunting, feeding, sleeping and seeking mates.

Animal tracks in fresh snow are often easiest to identify. (Courtesy Jeff Kelley)

When tracking, I look for several basic clues to help reveal the identity of the track-makers…

First check the number of toe prints. Dogs and cats have four toes in each print. Weasels have five toes in each. Rodents have four toes in front and five in the rear. Second, check the animal's length of stride which indicates its relative speed of travel.

Third, note the straddle - the width of the tracks. Broad-chested bobcats and raccoons, for example, walk with left and right tracks offset. The narrow straddle of foxes and coyotes creates narrow tracks that run nearly in a straight line. Some tracks are distinct. Skunk tracks ascend like rising notes on a musical scale. Low-slung porcupines waddle through snow, creating a dirty furrow. Otters slide downhill. Beavers and muskrats drag their tails

Lastly, note habitat cues. Ledges, fields, wetlands, conifers and hardwood forests yield different collections of critters.

When snow ends overnight, fresh tracks at dawn are proof-positive that a coyote just skirted the edge of our sheep pasture and provide irrefutable evidence that a bobcat sat on the ledges overlooking the village.

There are many tracking field guides to help you get started. New Hampshire Fish and Game publishes a very basic key. Tracking takes practice and that becomes impossible in a few months when the snow is gone. So get out there now!