With winter upon us, we often forget the many signs of nature that are all around us. I took a walk in the woods after a recent rain a couple of weeks ago and was amazed at all of the animal signs that I saw. I entered the forest on an old logging road. There were several deer tracks on the road. I could see small prints and large ones and knew that a yearling probably had not yet left its mothers side. All at once, there were dog tracks that mixed in with the deer tracks. When seeing these, I could visualize a rather large dog (looking at the size of the tracks) chasing the two deer down the road. I followed the prints until I came to a place where the deer tracks veered off up an embankment onto the top of a small hill.

Continuing on down the trail, I came upon some raccoon tracks. They did not look as fresh as the deer prints so I made the assumption that the footprints had been made the night before. It was obvious that the raccoon was in search of food because the trail left behind moved from side to side and not in a straight pattern. I then decided to venture off of the main logging and follow a trail that traveled deeper into the forest. There were squirrels running around looking for acorns and woodpeckers vigorously foraging the inside of dying trees for an afternoon snack.

After climbing a moderately steep hill I could see an outcropping of rocks and decided to make that spot a destination. I knew that there would be a beautiful view of the mountainside from this spot. Much to my surprise, when I reached the rocks, the leaves on the back side had been padded down in several spots. I then realized that I had reached a bedding spot for deer. This spot would provide a protective area for naps and would give the deer an upper edge on escaping from any invaders. For all I knew, I had just disturbed their nap.

I was getting hungry and decided to head back off of the mountain. With it being a rather steep decline down the mountain, I had to use trees and saplings as a brace to "slide" down the banks. Once I reached the bottom of one of the banks, I stopped to look around and saw that the bark had been scraped off of one of the trees. I walked a little closer to get a better view and it dawned on me what I was looking at. I stretched up as far as I could reach and could not reach that top of the scrape marks. There was obviously a bear in the surroundings that had marked its territory. With all due respect to the bear and its territorial markings, I decided that my walk through the forest was finished. I headed back out down the logging road only to see that more deer tracks had been made alongside my footprints.

The best time to look for animal tracks is after one to two inches has fallen. If not after a snowfall, muddy areas and dusty roads provide an excellent source for observation. When you think of tracking animals, you should not only consider footprints, but also think realize that animals can be identified by: 1) food they leave behind; 2) scat (droppings); 3) tail marks; 4) claw marks; and 5) burrows. Being able to identify animal footprints is not very difficult because each animal has its own set of prints that forms a pattern. Seeing prints not only tells you what the animal is, but also some of the habits of that animal. For example, you can tell whether the animal is younger or older by the size of prints.

Animals that jump from place to place, ex. Squirrel, will have the two hind prints side by side. Animals that leave tracks that wander from place to place with no sense of direction, ex. deer, are animals that are foragers that are searching the ground for food. Some animals walk on their toes without letting their heels touch. They are animals that rely on speed to catch food or avoid danger (ex. cats and deer). Animals, such as bears and skunks, walk with both their toes and heels touching because they do not feel threatened by many things that surround them in their habitats.

Learning to identify animals tracks will add another educational experience to even the shortest walk into your backyard. There are many books and guides available that will aid you in pursuing this venue and hopefully will give you a new perspective on the natural world.