February 28, 2023
Winter weather always provides great conditions to go out and look for wildlife tracks. Paul Rezendes writes in his wonderful book, Tracking and the Art of Seeing: How to Read Animal Tracks and Sign, that “At one time, being able to read tracks and sign was a matter of life and death. Knowing where the food was and what the predators were doing could mean the difference between survival and extinction.” In modern times that knowledge is not widely known unless you are a hunter or live and spend a lot of time in wilderness areas where your survival depends on having the ability to track and understand your surroundings. Nature enthusiasts, naturalists, scientists, and wildlife biologists use tracks and signs to inform their understanding of wildlife. You can find tracks of the animals that live in your area along muddy and sandy roads and trails. Tracks stand out especially well in the fresh snow we are getting. In Little Lake Valley, there are many opportunities to find tracks and signs, so today I wanted to focus on tracking and scatology.
Besides tracks, another animal sign that can be found is scat, or feces. Scat is a great source of information for biologists and anybody willing to look at it closely. Scatology is the scientific study of excrement, and allows biologists to learn a lot about the diet, health, and habits of wildlife with no disturbance or stress to the animal being studied. Scientific analysis of scat can tell a story of where that animal has been and what food is preferred or available. Scat also provides DNA sampling, stress hormone measurements, and can tell us something about population density. This doesn’t mean you need to collect scat and bring it home! By simple observation, even without physically touching the scat, much can be learned that is interesting and informative.
Let’s just look at some of the tracks and scat seen regularly at the MCRCD office in Willits. One of the most common animal tracks I see are the tracks of the Northern Raccoon, Procyon lotor. They are in the carnivore family though eat like an omnivore. A raccoon will eat anything they can find including human trash, fruit, and vegetables. Their paw prints are distinctive and large, looking like a handprint showing five well-formed toes. The fore print is smaller and shorter than the hind print. These tracks also tend to be distinctive and deep prints, as they move very deliberately and cautiously along the landscape. A track that can look similar to the Raccoon’s print is the Virginia Opossum. Both have five toes and claws that can register in the print. The raccoon has toes that mostly point forward and display a small amount of asymmetry in their gait. Opossums on the other hand have toes that are splayed out, especially the hind paw which has a thumb that is sharply angled out. Their gait is extremely asymmetrical and often their tracks are blurred since the hind foot will land on the front track.
Another common track I see belongs to the Striped Skunk. These always make me smile because they are small and cute. They have five toes and smooth palm pads which don’t leave large prints. Their long front claws can show on the track but not always. Reading about Skunk tracks I learned and then noticed for myself that their tracks seldom show them running. Their strong and potent scent is a defense that allows them to walk more casually than a squirrel or woodrat.
Bird tracks are easy to identify due to their distinctive feet. Knowing what birds are likely to walk on the ground and the relative sizes of birds is helpful for diagnosing what bird species produced the track. Common bird tracks we see are California Quail, Wild Turkey, and Great Blue Heron. Mourning Doves and large sparrows such as California Towhees and Spotted Towhees spend their time on the ground scratching for food. The largest bird print I have observed in Little Lake Valley is the Great Blue Heron.
Other tracks to look for are Gray Fox and Coyote tracks. Both are in the canine family but have very different habits and tracks. Gray foxes have small tracks that show their long claws used for climbing trees, while the coyote, who can be thirty pounds heavier, have shortened claw marks. The domestic dog has more splayed-out tracks and the claws are more noticeable.
There are plenty of opportunities to hone your tracking skills this winter with all of the snow and mud as a background. Before your next hike, research one of the many online sources and/or tracking field guides to help identify and interpret the prints and animal sign you are observing.
