Reasons to Identify Animal Tracks

All animals need water to survive. This means that one of the best places to find animal tracks is in the soft earth near streams or lakes. Many animals also follow a migratory path or establish a territory for feeding. Their tracks help identify these areas. Fresh snow is also a good canvas for animal footprints. Identifying which animals are leaving the tracks will help determine their purpose in being there, where they live and whether they pose a problem.

Significance

Scientists study and identify animal tracks to learn about the past and the present. A ScienceDaily article by Ohio State University reports that fossilized tracks show a trail created in the Ediacaran Period, some 570 million years ago. Tracks these days are studied to evaluate the decline or growth of an animal population or their appearance in a previously unpopulated area. Hunters identify animal tracks to track and harvest wild game animals. The general population may learn to identify animal tracks for pleasure, to identify a predator, or to identify an animal that is causing property damage or is a pest.

What to Look For

When you find an animal track, there are several things you should look at while trying to identify it. These include the width, length and shape of the track and whether claw marks, pads and toes are showing, and if so, the number. You should also determine if there are other specimens of the same track nearby and what the distance is between the two. This may help determine the animal's gate, which is helpful for identification purposes.

Types

All rodents leave five-toed tracks with their hind feet, and the tracks are usually side-by-side. Most leave four-toed tracks with their front feet. Cottontail rabbits and jackrabbits leave five-toed tracks with their front feet.

Raccoons leave tracks with their front feet that are handlike. Tracks from their back feet are longer, and not all the toes always show.

Bears usually leave five-toed tracks with a humanlike heel and claw marks.

Canine tracks, including those of the domestic dog, wolf, red fox and coyote, are very similar and occasionally mistaken for large cat tracks. They show claw marks.

Bobcat, mountain lion and feral cat tracks are four-toed but usually do not show claw marks, and the front tracks are slightly bigger than the hind tracks.

Members of the weasel family, such as skunks, weasels, badgers and otters, show claw marks when they leave tracks. Their tracks show five toes on both front and back feet. Skunk tracks also show heel marks.

Deer leave a two-toed track, as do moose, elk and antelope. Determining which animal left the print takes some practice, except in areas where only deer are present. The size of a two-toed track will help identify its owner.

Potential

Once you have learned to identify which animal a certain track comes from, you may also be able to tell whether that animal is male or female, which would help prevent any potentially dangerous confrontations if a mother animal is protecting her young. It will also alert you to wild animal trails and paths that you may want to avoid when setting up camp in the wilderness.

Warning

If you are not a hunter equipped with a rifle or bow, be especially aware of your surroundings and the freshness of any tracks you find at all times. While it may be fun to find mountain lion or bear tracks and follow their trail, it is very dangerous to unexpectedly come face to face with the actual animal in the wild.

References

• Identifying Animal Tracks
• ScienceDaily; Earliest Animal Footprints; Ohio State University; Oct. 6, 2008
• New Mexico University; Identifying and Preserving Wildlife Tracks; Jon Boren, Byron Wright; March 1999

Resources

• Follow That Footprint, Paw Print, Hoof Print...