Squirrel tracks

My driveway seems to be the best place for photographing animal tracks. We had another fresh dusting of snow and I found these tracks this afternoon. This set belongs to a neighbourhood squirrel (most likely a grey squirrel). I have two types of squirrels in my yard, and I don't know how to tell the difference between their tracks.

This squirrel was heading towards the left of the photo. As squirrels run they place their back feet on the ground just in front of where their front feet have been. Rabbits do this as well. If you are trying to differentiate between squirrel and rabbit tracks, you can follow them to see if they lead to the base of a tree and disappear!

You can tell how fast an animal was going by how far apart the sets of tracks are. Close together, the animal was going slowly, farther apart and the animal was running. There is only one set in the photo, the other set was far enough away. I think the squirrel did not want to hang around on my driveway for too long.

On Quiet Cat Feet

I used to be a naturalist at Point Pelee National Park, here in Canada. You would think that I would have my kids out in nature all the time. Sadly, I have been terrible even at getting them outside, much less anywhere natural. This year I resolved to change all that and we have been out exploring and discovering what winter has to offer.

Lately we have been learning about animal tracks. Having children has taught me just how little I know. Even about nature, where I was supposed to be an 'expert' to some extent, I don't really know much at all. One thing I do know is that you start learning about what is very common to your area, and then you can start to figure out the rare and unusual species.

So, here are some tracks of the common house cat.

"The cat's track is in a single line as if it had only two feet, one set directly ahead of the other. It accomplishes this by setting its hind feet exactly in the tracks made by the front feet."

from The Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock

Dogs don't step onto the track they left and they leave claw marks at the tips of their toes. In this way you can distinguish between the tracks of a very small dog and a cat, (or a very large dog and a panther).

When we're out on nature walks I try to point out things to my kids, but I often feel they aren't listening to me. Sometimes a few days later they'll make a comment that shows they were listening after all. Yesterday my oldest son was looking at a footprint and said "This is an old footprint, see the light dusting of snow that is covering it." There was my reward for going outside this winter.

I've been on the lookout for a good opportunity to photograph some animal tracks. It snowed a bit last night and this morning I saw these tracks on my driveway. The black from the driveway gave them enough contrast to show up when I took the picture.