This week, I left behind Redstone Quarry for new experiences with Burlington’s wildlife. I spent time around Centennial Woods instead. I find that the closest green space to my dorm is the one I spend the least amount of time in, and I wanted to better orient myself with the natural communities near me. To start tracking, a few of my NR002 friends and I ventured into the ravine between the woods and the Double Tree hotel. As we walked around, we began to notice tracks in the lower regions of the ravine. After a warmer week, the snow was sparse and most tracks were difficult to read. However, I believe I found prints from Fisher and White-Tailed Deer.
Using the INaturalist App, I recorded my findings and posted them to share with the community of wildlife enthusiasts. While I looked at walking patterns, environment, strides, etc. to identify these tracks, some of the snow cover made clear identification quite difficult. The INaturalist App helped me to make better assessments of what animal may have made the tracks through its suggestion tool. I found that extremely beneficial.
The tracks that I identified as fisher were difficult to determine. The walking pattern of the fisher is a bounder, typical of the weasel family. However, these tracks occasionally looked like bounds and at other times more closely resembled a diagonal walking pattern. The prints were also difficult to read in terms of the number of toes. The characteristic “ice cream cone” shaped print though and the size led me to believe that a fisher made these tracks.
The diagonal walking pattern of the deer as well as the hoof print was quite clear. The size also closely matched the size of the average deer print, and centennial woods is a common place for deer sitings. I am quite confident in this identification, but then again, you can never be too sure.