Instead of returning to my phenology spot in Centennial Woods, I decided to explore the campground area by North Beach. There were a lot of human footprints in this area, but also various wildlife prints as well!
The first print that I observed was a gray squirrel print. It has the two smaller front feet behind the two larger back feet. The tracks matched with the 10-14 cm straddle that the Wildlife Tracking book suggests for a gray squirrel, and its track pattern matches with that of a gray squirrel. I saw some squirrels on the branches of trees up above, and they were all Gray, not Red. This, along with the size of the print, helped me narrow down my guess.
The next print that I observed was from a crow. I saw the bird make these prints, so I am positive that I have correctly identified this species. I have included this observation mostly because I found that these were some cool looking tracks.
The next track I observed I was unsure about identifying. I noticed it had a diagonal walking pattern and that the paw prints looked very canine. There were four toes and very little negative space in the center of the print.
My best guess is that this is a coyote print. I am guessing this because of the X shape in the middle of the print. The smaller pad of the foot also lines up with the example in the tracking book. The nails were pretty straight, and in our lecture, we were taught that this is a sign of a wild animal. I am not entirely sure if this is a coyote because I have trouble telling the difference between these prints and domestic dog prints, but they were pretty small, so I think coyote.
I found that using the iNaturalist app was very easy. When suggesting identifications for the track you are submitting, I found that having pictures pop up next to species names was very helpful. The app is fun to use and I’m excited to hear back about identifications of my tracks!