How to Track Animal Prints

Tracking animal prints can be useful when hunting or just fun when hiking or camping. Identifying animal prints is not the easiest thing to do--the appearance of prints from the same type of animal can vary depending on the animal's age, the substrate it was walking in and the length of time from when the print was made to when you find it. A field guide that covers animal tracks is a key item to have along when tracking animal prints. These guides not only provide written descriptions and illustrations of animal prints, but they also provide descriptions of other signs the animals may leave in the field, such as scat.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Animal tracks field guide
• Ruler (optional)
• Camera or sketchpad and pen/pencil (optional)

1. Determine what species of animals live in your area. Consulting your state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) or a local field guide will help narrow down what animal the tracks may belong to.

2. Determine how many toes are present in the print. This will help determine what class (for example dog, cat or rodent) the animal belongs to.

3. Use a ruler to measure the size of the print. Measure the length of one print and the width between prints. If you do not have a ruler, estimate the size of the print using the size of your hand or a finger as a reference point.

4. Look at the tracks to see if you can determine how the animal moves. Animals that hop from one location to another typically have tightly spaced prints, with larger hind paw prints enclosing smaller front paw prints.

5. Look for other signs of the animal, such as scat or fur/feathers.

6. Consult a field guide that has illustrations and descriptions of animal tracks and/or scat (see References below).

7. Take a picture of the prints with a camera or draw a quick sketch of the prints. When you return home, consult a field guide or check resources online to help determine what species the paw prints belong to (see Resources below).

Tips & Warnings

• You may want to carry along some plaster of Paris and water to make a mold the prints you find in the field. You can then bring these molds home as study tools to help you identify prints in the field.

References

• Peterson Field Guides Animal Tracks, Third Edition; Olaus J. Murie and Mark Elbroch; 2005

Resources

• Animal Tracks
• Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources: Follow That Footprint
• Animal Tracking