Tracks In The Snow, pt.2

In the last blog we explored many of the characteristics of tracking.  In this blog, we’ll explore tracks, eating patterns, and scat from animals that are active in northern Illinois throughout our winters.  Many of these species live elsewhere, as well, and the information here can be applied to other species with the same characteristics as those in Illinois. 

White-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, domesticated horse, and bison, Bison bison, can all be found and observed in many urban and agricultural areas of northern Illinois.  These hoofed mammals all walk on their toes, making a deep print of two toenails split down the center.  The pointed end faces the direction the animal was traveling.

Hoofed species in this area are all browsers and grazers.  Browsers feed on leaves, fruit, and soft shoots of woody plants.  One browser in this area, the white-tailed deer, leaves a distinct bite pattern exhibiting a ragged tear from the lower teeth and a clean cut from the upper teeth.  Deer also use their lower teeth to scrape away soft bark from trees such as cherry, apple, willow, and sumac.  Grazers feed on grass and lower-growing vegetation. These species include horses and bison which bite grass off close to the ground.

Rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks all move with a hopping motion.  The smaller front feet land first and the larger hind feet land immediately in front of the front feet.  Squirrels and chipmunks have five toes on the hind feet and four toes on their front feet.  Rabbits have furred feet, effectively hiding the distinct toes, and their tracks appear as a large oblong hind foot in front of a much shorter front foot.  The spacing of the tracks indicates of how fast the animal was moving.

Eastern cottontail rabbits, Sylvilagus floridanus, have teeth on both the upper and lower jaw, leaving a clean, forty-five degree angle cut a few inches off the ground.  They prefer sumac, maple, apple and oak.  Other signs that may be present where rabbits have eaten are scat piles.  Their scat is small ovals that come out one at a time, so a pile of scat indicates that the rabbit stayed in that one spot for an extended period of time.  Squirrels and chipmunks both have continuously growing incisors that leave distinct, small parallel grooves on the ends of woody shoots they have chewed. 

Woodpecker tracks show two toes pointing in each direction.  Perching birds have one toe pointing backwards and three toes pointing forwards.  Larger birds of prey such as hawks and owls may have tracks that are blurred indicating feathers covering their toes.  Waterfowl, including ducks and geese, will make flattened tracks showing webbing between their toes.

Many larger hawks and owls in our area hunt by soaring on wind drafts while scanning the ground below for prey.  When a mouse or other small animal is found, the predator will dive from overhead to snatch up the prey or pin it to the ground before killing it, then possibly taking the prey to another location to eat.  Wing marks and depressions in snowy areas are clear indications of an attack.

The North American raccoon, Procyon lotor, and Virginia opossum, Didelphis virginiana, have alternating prints.  Raccoons leave a round print with five long toes that distinctly resembles a human footprint.  Opossums also have five toes, but the outer one is opposable, like our thumb, and leaves a distinctive print with four toes pointing forward and one pointing to one side.  You may also observe a wavy line between the opossum tracks as it drags its tail along.

Canines and felines have padded feet.  Clues to the specie’s identity come from observations of the general shape of the imprint, how many toes there are, if there are claw marks at the ends of the toes, and the general pattern left by the trail of prints.  Canines including dog, red fox, Vulpes vulpes, and coyote, Canis latrans, walk on their four front toes.  Each footprint will show a back pad, a small pad behind each toe, and a claw mark in front of each toe.  The overall imprint will be longer than it is wide.  Red fox trails exhibit direct registration, with the hind foot stepping directly into the track left by the front foot but other canine species show indirect registration with front and hind tracks slightly separated.

Felines include domesticated cats and bobcats, Lynx rufus.  These animals have similar prints from walking on their four front toes, but a feline track shows the back pad and four toe pads in a circular impression, and no claw marks because they withdraw their claws when walking. 

When observing tracks, keep in mind these points: whether hind feet and front feet are different, how many toes are showing, are there claw marks, is there webbing, feathers, or fur between toes, which foot is in front, and the shape of the print. Consider a tracking field guide or a visit to the Jurica-Suchy Nature Museum or a natural history museum near you for more information.