With falling snow comes new outdoor excitement - looking for tracks and animal signs. The 1-2s took a winter walk down the Lilja School trail to see what we could spot. Pictures of tracks and sign we found are below. One place we like to visit is the path at the end of the access road to Morses Pond. There we find an abandoned beaver project - a tree that has been partly gnawed. The teethmarks are visible on the large tree and a few surrounding sapling stumps but for some reason, this beaver stopped before completing his goal of taking down the larger tree.
Tracks tell a story. You may see a line of squirrel tracks making a path toward a tree, then no tracks, then tracks coming off the tree from a different side. What's happening? A squirrel runs to and up a tree, then runs down and away some time later. But don't be misled by "look alikes"! Rabbit tracks look nearly identical to squirrel tracks, with front paws put down first and big back feet landing in front. However, Squirrels place their front paws down together whereas rabbits put down one front paw down ahead of the other which is the telling clue in determining the tracks you are looking at.
Tracks from wild dogs (coyotes, foxes) show themselves in their neat lines of tracks as these animals direct register. That is, they place their back paw in the impression from their front paw so the row of tracks looks like a neat, single line. Our domesticated dogs who do not have to hunt for their own food have larger splashes of messy tracks indicating a playful pet rather than the presence of a predator.
Enjoy the pictures below of our quest for animal tracks and signs. Take your child to look for animal tracks near you - in your neighborhood, yard or even driveway after we get snow this weekend!
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