Track Soup

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Wolf

 

Winter tracking is almost too easy. Every fresh snowfall and nature has a clean canvas on which to paint a story. Most stories involve animals trying to find something to eat, animals trying to eat other animals, animals running away from something, and periodically animals sleeping and pooping. That’s pretty much the life of most animals.

 

A fox track is far smaller than a wolf or coyote and is much more elongated. /they also seem to have a cleaner registry between front and back feet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weasel

Weasel tracks are hoppers. Front and back feet look very similar in the snow and are usually just a pair of dots. We have three types of weasels in BC, the long tailed, short tailed and least weasel, in descending order.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Squirrel

 

Squirrel tracks are distinguished from weasel tracks because their hind feet are considerably larger than the front feet. Like the hare, the hind feet can precede the front feet – especially at high speeds.

Grouse feeding on buds

 

Winter food for grouse is scarce. Buds, dried berries, and some coniferous needles make up their diet. Especially hard for them is the lack of access to gravel which they need to ingest for their gizzards. Lacking teeth, they have a muscular organ, the gizzard, that when filled with fine gravel or sand, acts as a grinder for their food.

Deer browse on red osier dogwood

 

Ungulates like deer and moose do not have top teeth, but instead have a tough upper plate, hence, browse by these animals is not a clean cut like when a rodent is browsing or grazing.

  1. Patricia Sandberg

    Hello Frank, I am an author and would like to talk to you about wildlife in the Kamloops area. I’m hoping to speak with you. Thanks