How to Track Gray Squirrels

The gray squirrel is an extremely common member of the rodent family and you can generally find them throughout the northeastern (eastern gray squirrel) and northwestern United States (western gray squirrel). Gray squirrels don't hibernate, and fall is the best time to watch for them as they ready their food cache for winter.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Examine the prints. The front feet of the gray squirrel are round, less than 1 inch long and have 4 toes. The hind feet are more triangular, a little more than 2 inches long, and have 5 toes.

2. Measure the straddle. The straddle is the width of the trail. Calculate by measuring the outside edge of a left print to the outside edge of the right print. The average straddle for the gray squirrel is 4 to 6 inches.

3. View the stride. However, the stride of a gray squirrel varies greatly depending on what the squirrel is doing. A running stride can be up to 1 m, or about 3 feet long. To measure stride, measure from the top edge of the first track to the top edge of the second track. In a usual bound, this would be from the top of the hind foot to the top of the hind foot in the next set of tracks.

4. Follow the trail to see if the squirrel tracks are in groups of 4. Because of the way the squirrel bounds, his trail should show his hind feet in front of his front foot tracks.