Mashomack Musings: A lot to ‘read’ in tracks

Whenever it is muddy or snowy, you have the power to see which animals have been around while you weren’t looking.

Footprints or other tracks and traces can reveal species as well as behavior. The gait of the animal can tell whether it was traveling (and the direction it was headed), hunting or just wandering around.

The most easily noticed track on Shelter Island is that of the ubiquitous white-tailed deer. The single track of cloven hooves seems to crisscross nearly every lawn and field.

Squirrels and rabbits are bounders, usually jumping and landing with all 4 feet in one spot. Rabbits’ tracks can baffle us, too. As rabbits hop, the larger hind feet land ahead of the smaller front paws and our brains interpret that to mean the critter was headed in the opposite direction we think it was going.

Delicate bird tracks show the busy-ness of small sparrows as they hop about searching for seeds. Raccoons, often unnoticed due to their nocturnal nature, are suddenly revealed as their tracks lead to and from the base of a hollow tree where they are denned up.

Encounters captured in the snow can often document where one animal ended up as prey. Even flying birds can sometimes be “seen” from their prints if they touched down briefly to nab a meal. A line of mouse track that ends in feather and wing prints tells the story of an owl or hawk that didn’t go hungry.

You can even figure out where critters home ranges are — squirrels setting up their territory by your bird feeder may not be welcome but discovering a previously undetected fox patrolling an area can be fun.

Following tracks for longer distances reveals which areas act as so-called “wildlife corridors.” Hedgerows, culverts or other connections between larger undeveloped areas provide safe passage when animals are traveling or need to migrate from locations that may be irrevocably altered or degraded by climate change.

So, keep your eyes open after the next snowstorm or when spring’s mud puddles appear and check out who left signs of their passing.

Activity: On a calm day, set a tarp out with bird seed. Sprinkle a light dusting of flour over the tarp. Watch the birds, then examine the tracks. Do they look as you expected?

Mashomack Preserve is owned and operated by The Nature Conservancy, a global environmental nonprofit working to create a world where people and nature thrive. Our mission is to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. To learn more, visit nature.org.