On February 19th, I explored the depths of Centennial Woods in order to find signs of wildlife. I was hoping to go somewhere other than here, but I just finished recovering from a concussion so my options were limited!

What did I encounter?

• Various animal tracks in mud and snow
  • Two raccoons
  • Gray squirrel
  • American crow
  • Cottontail rabbit
  • Red fox
• Various bird feathers
  • Barred owl
  • American crow

For the species such as raccoon and cotton tail rabbit, I had a fairly easy time determining their tracks. Rabbits have a very unique gait pattern and track sizes for example. It was clear that it was a cottontail rabbit based on the size of its hind legs in comparison to snowshoe hares. The raccoons were easy to decipher due to their easily-identifiable front track shape and size. With regards to identifying the squirrel’s tracks, I was able to differentiate between a red and gray squirrel based on the size of the tracks as well as the front foot placement (red squirrels often lands with one front paw slightly in front of the other). I really struggled to identify the red fox tracks due to how faded they were and how clustered they were. I found them at the edge of a creek, and the prints were overlapping each other which made it difficult to find a gait pattern or clear tracks. I was able to decide upon red fox based upon the size of the tracks, pad of the foot, and the oval pattern of the toes. I am not 100% sure about this identification to be honest though!

iNaturalist App Experience:

My experience with the iNaturalist app was pretty good, I did struggle to post my observations to our class project but hopefully they went through! I really enjoyed being able to see my classmates’ observations and exactly where tracks were found.