2/20 Blog Post #6
I started looking for tracks this week in the woods behind the Redstone Lofts. Unfortunately there was not many signs of wildlife there. This is not surprising though due to the amount of human traffic through the area. I then went to Centennial Woods because I figured I would have more luck. The first thing I noticed when I got there was a lot of bird activity. They were all chirping and sitting in the trees. I also ran into some bird watchers who took interest in these birds.
There was a thin layer of fresh snow on the ground in the woods that made it very easy to see the tracks and their details. There was a lot of human and dog tracks which was to be expected since the woods are a popular walking path. I saw a few animal tracks along the path. I took pictures of each of them with a ruler and then uploaded them to iNaturalist. I was not sure of my identifications but I just selected my best guess when it asked the species.
The three tracks that I have photos of above were the ones that I was most interested in. I was not completely confident in any of my identifications but I was able to pick up on some important details about the tracks.
Tracks #1 I could tell was a bounder. Between the bounding, size of the tracks, and number of toes, I think that it could have been a Chipmunk.
Tracks #2 I spent a lot of time trying to figure out. I could not make out a pattern in its stride because it seemed to be changing direction and pace a lot. The length of the front print compared to the one behind it makes me believe that it is a bounder. The number of toes and shape of print helped me decided that it was the track of a Gray Squirrel.
For tracks #3 was the clearest print that I was able to find, but the rest of the prints in the track were not preserved because they were close to the side of the trail. I was between a fisher or a gray fox but the shape and number of toes leads me to believe it is the print of a fisher.
Overall I think that the experience trying to identify the tracks in the woods really helped me to learn them because I had to analyze the small differences between similar prints. It was also very fun to get outside and look for evidence of the wildlife!