When I arrived at my spot, it looked very different from what I had seen last semester. Snow now covered the ground, the trees were bare, and the creek which had previously babbled and splashed over stones and mud now had slowed to a crawl. No leaves remained on the trees and the ground cover of plants was unrecognizable, now covered in a layer of snow. The sound of birds that had started to fade as the season progressed was now almost totally gone, as was any sound from animals rustling in the brush. Instead, clumps of snow fell from trees, thudding as they hit the ground.
The state of the snow made tracking difficult. By the time I went to my spot, it had been a while since it had snowed, so while there was still plenty of snow on the ground, it was not fresh. It had hardened into a crust that broke when stepped on, as opposed to making a clear indent. As a result, it was difficult to differentiate the many holes in the snow crust that I observed. Were they footsteps from people, or depressions made by snow falling from trees, or tracks from some mammal. I often found it hard to tell, but I did identify a few tracks that I believe are from mammals.
The first set measured about 6 cm in length, and while the print was not very defined, I noticed what appeared to be the finger-like claws of a raccoon. I have also observed raccoon tracks at my spot in the past, leading me to conclude that these are raccoon tracks.
The second set is about 9.5 cm in length and has an odd, oblong shape. The shape and size, as well as the fact that they aren’t very deep lead me to believe that these come from a rabbit or hare of some kind, although exactly which kind I can’t tell for sure.
The last set that I found is the most defined. They measure about 6 cm and are very clearly from a paw. I think the most likely explanation is a dog, as there is a trail that runs pretty close to my site that I have noticed people walking dogs on. However, they are smaller than a lot of dog prints and the claws are more defined than a lot of dog prints, leading me to believe that they also could come from a fox, but I think a dog is the most likely explanation.