![]() They’re larger than most other tracks in this category, which makes identification fairly simply in ideal conditions. Bear Tracksīear tracks have 5 toes on the front and hind. The weasel family also includes larger examples like otters, badgers & wolverines, whose tracks all share many of the same features. This is the toe that’s normally missing in dogs & cats. Notice the single circular heel pad on the front foot.Īlso notice that extra 5th toe hanging off the hind at a weird angle. Small weasels like ermines & long-tailed weasels can be deceptively tiny for such a vicious carnivore, sometimes causing people to confuse them with mice or shrews. Weasel family tracks have 5 toes on the front and hind. Many rodent species also have their own unique way of moving that can be identified down to the species simply by measuring the overall trail width, as we’ll discuss in the tutorial. Size is an important ID feature for rodents because they range from the smallest mouse all the way up to full grown beavers. Once again they follow the typical rodent pattern of 4 toes in the front & 5 in the hind ( Learn more about groundhogs). These are tracks of a groundhog or woodchuck. ![]() We can also look at something a bit more typical for many small rodents like squirrels, mice & voles. These look completely different, however you can still see there are four claw marks on the front and five on the hind for this large rodent. The unusual tracks shown above are muskrat tracks, which have an extra bit of almost webbed furriness to the hind foot as an adaptation to water. This is a key pattern to look for whenever you go tracking because rodent species are extremely common and they come in many different shapes and sizes, so anything you can do to narrow your list will be a big help. Rodents are unique in the tracking world because they have four toes on their front feet and five on the hind. Rodent Tracks Muskrat Front Track Muskrat Front Track If you want to see a more thorough comparison of cats & dogs, watch my video on how to identify cat vs dog tracks. The negative space is a sort of wavy U-shape. You’ll also notice the heelpad covers a relatively large area compared to the toe size. The overall shape of cat tracks is a circle. They tend not to register claws or nails, which is one common way to tell them apart from canines (however isn’t 100% accurate). Canine Tracks (Dogs, Foxes, Coyotes, Wolves)Ĭat tracks (like the cougar track shown above) have 4 toes. ![]() ![]() If you really want to go deeper with tracking, you’ll also find a more in-depth tutorial on track identification later on this page. To start us off, let’s check out some common animal track examples.įor each animal, I’ll share sketches I’ve made of the key track features with a quick explanation of how to identify their tracks. Let’s take a look at how these techniques work so you can learn to identify tracks in your local area! Track Families & Most Common Examples: Most tracks can be confidently identified simply by counting the number of toes, taking accurate measurements of size, and analyzing the overall pattern of movement. I’m going to walk you through the most important things to look for in animal footprints with plenty of examples to help you determine what animal left the sign. So today I’m excited to share this online guide to animal tracks! Like many nature lovers, I had some basic experience with dog and cat tracks… but these bizarre impressions in the mud were completely unlike anything I had ever seen before.Įventually with a bit of study and plenty of dirt time in the field, I got to the point where I could confidently identify all the tracks of mammals, even many birds, amphibians & insects.īeing able to quickly & confidently identify animal tracks is a HUGE step on the journey to understanding your local environment. I still remember the first time one of my tracking mentors showed me the trail of an animal that was completely unknown to me.
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