Tracks In The Snow

The other day I was walking through the fresh snow when I came upon an interesting sight--the carcass of a female bighorn sheep. As I investigated the site, I noticed the area had a number of visible signs of very recent animal activity. The tracks appeared to be those of a large cat; either a cougar or a lynx. Both have tracks about the same size with the main difference being in the length of the stride. The tracks were about 10 cm across, with large pads and no evidence of claws. In addition, the animal had left scratch marks in the snow around the carcass. These scratches are typical of our various wild cats, particularly cougars as they attempt to bury their kills to save them for future meals. In addition, lynx do not take down large animals like sheep, but eat primarily the much smaller snowshoe hare. As we continued up the narrow valley, we found patches of hair approximately 100 metres up the trail, leading us to believe that either the sheep had been dragged to its present spot or that scavengers had dragged pieces of it away. Based on the above signs, we felt confident that the site showed cougar rather than lynx activity.

Trying to identify the many winter animal signs, often requires the type of detective work we followed with the sheep carcass. Often the tracks alone won't give you all the information you need. Animals don't wander around with the intention of making themselves easy to track or identify. In fact many animals seem to intentionally avoid leaving obvious signs behind. You may need to look for other signs in addition to tracks to confirm the identity of the track maker.

Coyotes and wolves both leave definite claw impressions in their tracks. Most people have little problem identifying the prints made by members of the dog family. Coyote prints are quite small being only 6-7 cm long which often has them mistaken for those of domestic dogs. Wolf tracks are between 11 and 12 cm long so they are more easily distinguished from those of all but the largest domestic dogs.

Members of the deer family are also quite distinctive in the tracks left behind during their daily wanderings. Deer tracks are quite easy to identify by their small size, however it can often be more difficult to distinguish between elk and moose. Elk tracks are about 11.5 cm long while moose are more in the range of 15 cm.

Snowshoe hares are another common track in the snow. They're quite unusual in that most people misjudge the direction in which they have traveled. As the hares run, their rear feet move further forward then their front feet. This leaves their rear tracks in front of their front, often confusing those seeing them for the first time.