How to Track Skunk and Raccoon Paw Prints
Even if you live in the suburbs, chances are high you have wild animals living among you. Certain wild animals are better suited to habituate and adapt around human towns and cities. Among these are the skunk and raccoon. Skunks are members of the Mephitidae family and secrete pungent musk as a defense mechanism. Raccoons belong to the Procyonidae family, which also includes kinkajous and coatis. Raccoons are notorious garbage thieves, often making large messes as they raid garbage cans waiting for pickup. Track these animals in your area using some basic tracking techniques.
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Instructions
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Skunk Tracking
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Look for a series of four-toed prints with smaller paws in the front and larger at the back. Skunks move in a serpentine fashion, loping rather than altering stride.
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Search for tracks around tree bases and around holes next to garage or home foundations. Skunks burrow and use holes to hide or den. Look for feces 1/4 to 1/2 inch in diameter and 1 to 2 inches long. Push the scat apart to find small bones or grass. This is undigested food and tells you what the skunk has been eating. Go to areas where the grass found in the scat is found.
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Push leaves or ground debris aside to find hidden tracks. Skunks move in scattered fashion often stopping to smell and dig for grubs, small rodents or amphibians. Use the stick to set next to tracks to measure the size and use as a reference when other tracks are found. When you find the same size tracks in the same area, chances are high you are tracking the same skunk.
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Stay within a 2-mile radius when tracking individual skunks. The skunk's home range is approximately 1 to 2 square miles.
Raccoon
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Walk to stream and water edges. Raccoons use water to help feel their food when gathered. Biologists once thought the animal used the water to clean their food, but recent research shows the raccoons use the water as it enhances the tactile recognition of their scavenged food. Look in the sand beds for prints that have five toes that are long and narrow, almost like skinny human hands.
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Check for a larger rear foot print next to a smaller front print. Raccoons walk in an alternating stride, placing a rear foot next to the alternate front as they walk. The rear foot is larger than the front.
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Go to tree bases to find raccoon prints to begin tracking. Raccoons are climbers, using trees to escape from predators. Locate prints around a base of a tree and search and find tracks going straight out from the tree. If there is a water source in the area, chances are high tracks will lead from the tree to the water.
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Use the magnifying glass around tracks, especially in heavy brush, to find raccoon fur hairs. As the raccoon brushes branches, hairs dislodge and stick to the tree. Use these to track the animal.
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References
- Photo Credit raccoon image by masteraz from Fotolia.com
