How to Track Animals in the Snow

Following animal tracks in the snow can tell you about the animal's behavior.

If you live in an area that gets snow occasionally, try tracking animals around your yard or in the wilderness close to your home. Tracking animals is a difficult task, but tracking animals in the snow can be easier because of the great medium snow provides. When you track animals in the snow you can usually follow their trails for long distances, providing the weather has lightened up a bit and it's not snowing hard.

Instructions

1. Look for tracks during dawn or dusk hours. These hours are when animals tend to be most active foraging for food or looking for a spot to bed down for the night.

2. Use the last time it snowed as a time indicator for when the tracks were laid down. If you know the last time it snowed was 2 hours ago and you find fresh tracks in the snow, you can deduce the animal passed by within the last 2 hours.

3. Figure out the behavior of the animal by the way the tracks are traveling through the snow. If you notice the animal tracks are traveling in a straight line between two points, then the animal is traveling directly to something like a food source, water source or a bedding area. If you notice that the tracks are meandering and stopping frequently, the animal is most likely foraging or hunting for food.

4. Catch up with the animal by following the tracks quietly and slowly. Animals can hear sounds better than humans. If your goal is to catch up to the animal whose tracks you're following, then make sure you make as little noise as possible when tracking them.

Tips & Warnings

• Stay away from large predator tracks unless you're purposely hunting them. Bear tracks will have 5 toe prints in the front track and hind track. Bear toe tracks are similar to how human toes bunch together at the tip of the foot and will not always show claw impressions. Front bear track prints are usually about 3 1/2 inches wide and the hind track will be about 7 inches long by 3 1/2 inches wide. Mountain lion tracks will have four toe prints in the front, four toe prints in the hind print, and no claw marks, since felines retract their claws when walking. The toe prints will be accompanied by a small circular paw pad print underneath them. Mountain lion prints will usually measure 3 inches wide or greater.

References

• Enature: Mammal Tracks
• Hunt Only: Deer Hunting First Snow
• New Mexico State University: Identifying and Preserving Wildlife Tracks