Tracks and Scat. Up to my elbows in it and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Quabin Reservoir

A few friends, Deneen and I had a great day out in the woods and by the water recently.  It was cold, clear and the snow was pretty good for tracking, revealing some obvious stories and some quite challenging mysteries to us.

Grouse tracks in snow

I’ll start with the more obvious stories.  In several spots we saw Ruffed Grouse tracks,

Black-cappedChickadee Tracks

Black-capped Chickadee,

Coyote Tracks

big Eastern Coyote tracks,

Otter Tracks

and a lot of otter tracks and sign (tracks above, slide below with their proud discoverer).  More on the otters later.

Otter slide

Indian pipe skeletons

These Indian Pipe Skeletons (Monotropa uniflora or similar) when shook, dropped this very fine material (magnified below).  We never did figure out if the longer fibers are the seed or the larger black object is.  Only a few of those fell out and many of the fibers creating a fine dust in the hand.

Indian pipe seed

Ice on the water, hoarfrost

By the water we admired the ice and open water on the northern edge, warmed by the southern sun.  Sitting in the sun ourselves we snacked on the wild cranberries freed from the snow by this amazing micro-climate.  They had a very very strong flavor that puckered my mouth. Great thing to find in a frozen place.

Wild cranberry

Otter haul out and scatt

Back to the otters sign.  It was in abundance, tracks and scat in many places, particularly where there was open water, even just a little along the edge like the photo above.

Otter Tracks

The image above shows a nice example of the roundness of the toe pads.

Otter scat

The most intriguing mystery came in the contents of the otter scats.  One of which, pictured above contained these globs pictured magnified below (sorry no scale).  They were frozen so we could not determine their consistency.  Otter do secrete a yellowish white mucus-like substance for scent marking which could be what this is.  I have seen that before and it was not so chunky as this.

Otter scat contents

Otter scat

 

Crayfish scat contents

Even weirder, though with some help we were able to determine what the are, were these hard, somewhat hemispherical objects found in a different Otter scat.  There were several of them, some different sizes and we spent quite a while trying to figure it out, trading hypotheses from fish eyes, to a strangely adapted fish scale or seed shell and many other ideas.  It was fun and challenging and one of my favorite aspects of tracking.

Crayfish Gastrolith

Above and below are both sides of same object.

Crayfish Gastrolith

Turns out they are gastroliths, a deposit of calcium carbonate in crayfish that they build up in order to get a jump on growing a new exoskeleton once they molt.  Another tracker Connor O’Malley let us in on this secret.  Apparently they are common in Otter scat though I had not noticed them before.

Grey Fox Tracks

And a final tracking blessing, Grey Fox tracks; a rare treat.  Some of the group had never seen Grey Fox tracks before.  They only showed up in one spot where the snow was just right.  Round, symmetrical, small metatarsal and metacarpal pads (heel) and no nails showing, it ghosted in and out like they so often do.  I have had the great honor of spending a little time with a juvenile and it was friendly and gentle, always moving, darting about curiously.

Grey Fox Tracks

Our day was filled with other experiences too.  We listened to our echos on the lake, slid on the ice, rested in the sun, watched birds and talked to ravens.  On the way home we stopped to eat in the city, had to walk through a mall.  It was intense, nothing subtle, no delicate mystery, just bustle and noise.  At the restaurant the food was great the the company better.

Still, the best part of the day was standing huddled over a pile of shit wondering what was inside.

 

A Deep Look at Coyote Tracks

Coyote Tracks in mud

Coyote tracks are very common where I live.  So are dog tracks, red and grey fox, bobcat and others that could be confused with coyote.  Learning the difference between them is an important basic distinction of wildlife tracking.

Above are both the front and hind track of a coyote in soft mud.  The depth and softness of the substrate will demand close scrutiny.  Here are some things to look for.

Four toes– Raccoons and fisher have 5.  Look hard because one of them is smaller and sometimes does not show clearly in the fisher.  All canines and felines have 4.  Some domestic animals may have extras which usually look weird and stand out.

Symmetry– Obvious symmetry in both front and hind tracks.  Felines have asymmetrical feet, most evident in the fronts. Domestic dogs breeding has led to crooked toes and claws in most individuals.

Negative space– I went to art school and was trained to view negative space as just as important as the “subject”.  If the subject is the pads, pay equal attention to the space in between them.  In canines, coyotes in particular, one can draw an X with its center in the middle of the track and it will not encounter any pads.  The asymmetry of feline tracks means this is not possible.  This phenomenon will also sometimes create a pyramid of material in the center of the track.  That is present here in these pictures.

Claws– on any but the thinnest substrate the coyote’s claws will leave marks.  They are small, narrow, strait, pointed and face strait ahead.  The claws of the outer toes often are so close to the inner toes they are barely visible and the inner toes claws are close together and parallel.  In these images the depth of the mud caused them to look larger and stick out more than usual especially on the front foot.  This can be tricky and takes looking at many tracks to be comfortable with.

“Heel Pad”–  It isn’t actually the heel, its the metacarpal pad on the front and metatarsal pad on the hind but, who’s counting. On coyotes the front heel pad is a wedge shaped trapezoid narrower to the front.  The hind feet often show just a round dimple in the earth.  Again in this example the depth of mud distorts some portions and shows more detail in others.  The outer 2 toes of the front foot for example have pinched the mud up around the front edge of the heel pad.

Clarity– Red fox have very furry feet, the inside edges of the toe and heel pad are often indistinct.  Coyote, bobcat and grey fox have very distinct pads so if the substrate is capable of capturing distinct edges and they are not visible consider red fox.

Size– Coyotes front feet are always larger than their hinds.  Domestic dogs are not always so, they may be the same or the rears could be larger.  There are parameters for coyote track size, several good books list these things.  I find measuring to be misleading because of the considerable overlap with other animals and the effect of mud and snow on the size of the track.  If one looks hard and often, the need for a ruler should disappear.  I did use one here to give you some idea of scale and so I can try to keep track of individual animals in my area.  Sharing photos does create a need for a scale such as a ruler.

Below are close ups of the individual tracks.

There are still more details to identifying coyote tracks which I will omit here for the sake of sanity.  Looking at tracks, drawing them, looking at animal’s feet, learning their habits and way of life are what it takes to go deeper into wildlife tracking.  The animal who made these tracks is my neighbor, I have known its family for generations, seen its parents in the woods, my family has listened to its family howl at night.  Getting to know the wildlife around you is another way to go deeper.

Coyote Front track

Coyote Hind track

Coyote Foot Study

Coyote female front foot

This poor animal was hit and killed by a car.  Tragic and unnecessary though this death was (there are plenty of ways for a young animal to die with out us adding speeding vehicle to the list) a Naturalist lets no opportunity for learning go by.  Studying the feet of animals take us a long way in the journey of tracking.  Drawing the structure and textures, where fur is present, the overall shape of a foot all are important.

Above is the front foot of a female Eastern Coyote, below the hind foot.  I did not have the opportunity to measure this animal but she was not large.  The feet are so symmetrical that I have lost track of whether they are right or left.  Being early in the winter there is a lot more fur between the toes than there might be the rest of the year, but nothing like a Red Fox has.

 

Some people may say good riddance to the coyote but I find their presence here rewarding.  They live as families just like us.

Coyote female hind foot