For the iNaturalist assignment, I explored our university’s campus for signs of wildlife. I wondered if there would still be signs of wildlife in a heavily populated area. Because of the ground’s wet, muddy, snowmelt conditions, it was difficult to find many clear animal tracks in the mud. However, after it snowed an inch or two this weekend, I managed to find two different types of tracks.
The first tracks I saw looked like they had a similar orientation to the red squirrel tracks I saw in Jericho Research Forrest. However, the front two paw prints look very rounded. I entered the tracks into iNaturalist as unidentified and I am interested to see what other people think of these tracks! The second set of tracks I saw on campus look like they belong in the cat family because you can clearly see four toes but no claws, meaning they could’ve been retracted. I found these tracks near one of the campus buildings where I have seen an orange cat around, so I am wondering if these are domestic cat tracks. Still interesting!
I also managed to see three Eastern grey squirrels on campus! I was excited to see so many squirrels as it has been a couple months since I have consistently seen squirrels around. campus.
