Today, I ventured into Centennial Woods to observe winter wildlife signs. It was hard to identify tracks because the snow was melty and there was a lot of mud. I noticed that there was a lot of human footprints in the mud, which made wildlife print identification using the iNaturalist app very difficult. Many of my observations were educated guesses on what the prints might be based on size and location. It was definitely easier to identify prints in the snow but because it has been melting the prints were significantly less clear. We narrowed down our identification by using our Mammal Tracks and Scat guide and measuring the straddle and the stride of the tracks.

Other signs of wildlife that I observed were types of centipedes, a spider, and a termites/rolly pollies. These were found in the soil and amongst damp bark and decomposing organic material.

Even though I personally had a hard time using the iNaturalist app to identify tracks in this location, it was interesting to see what types of wildlife other people have found in the greater Burlington area this time of year. I went on this adventure to Centennial woods with my friends from NR2 and we spent time making observations of this area in many different spots. We went down by the running water, in the muddier areas, and in the remaining snow as well.