For this assignment I went both downtown to the Waterfront and back into Centennial Woods. I first tried to find tracks near Lake Champlain, but much of the area was covered in ice and no prints could be found. The prints that I did find in the park near the water were a variety of dog prints, which I didn’t upload to iNaturalist. Having no luck finding wildlife prints near the lake, I thought to search more inland. Remembering how many tracks I saw at my phenology spot recently, I decided to explore the rest of Centennial Woods in search of signs of wildlife. Immediately, I noticed a flock of Canadian Geese flying overhead. Once in the woods I went down near the brook because there was still snow there, and found a variety of tracks. Next to the water I found a set of tracks that ended up going under a log. I narrowed down this set of tracks to the red fox because of the diagonal walking patterns, there was an ‘x’ across the paw, there were visible claws, and the heel pad was large. The next set of tracks I found further away from the brook was similar but slightly smaller, the heel pad was smaller, and there were no visible claws so I decided on a gray fox. I enjoyed recording these observations on iNaturalist because I could see what everyone else discovered in the Burlington area.
