Foot Prints in the Snow

sailorman · 01-12-2012, 04:13 PM

My favorite thing about hiking in the snow is being able to see footprints. The human kind are not that interesting, but I love trying to identify all of the animal and bird foot prints left in the snow.

ppine · 01-13-2012, 12:48 PM

Sailor,

Good observation. I really like the wing marks left by a raptor attacking its prey, bear tracks, or cat tracks. It is fun to see unusual fur bearers like long-tailed weasels, mink, or fishers.

firedancer · 01-14-2012, 10:57 AM

The ground certainly tells a more interesting story in the winter. I, too, love to see what kind of tracks appear in the snow. I remember a good friend of mine posted a sequence of pictures once on Facebook that very clearly showed how a hawk swooped down on a rabbit and had him for lunch. It was very cool.

outwest · 01-14-2012, 11:53 AM

I would love to see something like this but my better half comes from the sunny state of CA and the last thing of agreeing to is hiking or camping in the winter months when snow is on the ground. I am lucky to get 'em out of the house when its under 60.

Pathfinder1 · 01-14-2012, 12:03 PM

Hi...

As a former trapper and hunter, it was extremely important to be able to read the "sign" left by various animals. The inability to do that would have been considered quite a handicap.

It can also be informative and fun to non-trappers/hunters as well.

There are a few books dedicated to identifying animal tracks, which will be of great help to the novice.

ppine · 01-15-2012, 11:46 AM

Outwest,

Go by yourself or some other friends. It is a big mistake IMO to think that your family or spouse needs to go with you. When it is time for me to "just go somehere" I often go alone on very short notice.

DMan · 02-23-2012, 02:22 PM

Animal tracks certainly tell an interesting story. You can see where they crossed a fence line, went down to a stream for a drink, were spooked and ran off, caught something to eat, bedded down for the night and so on. I love to find a set of tracks, follow them and try to figure out what the animal did.

BGreen · 02-23-2012, 03:57 PM

I love seeing bird tracks, especially in fields where there was wet plowed fields, or snow, and after they have dried, the tracks remain. We were able to ascertain that wild turkeys had been there just by following the tracks.

campclose · 02-24-2012, 05:45 PM

I'm with you - I love trying to guess what animal has been in the area. I get a bit scared when the prints are bigger then mine and they aren't human! We hike all the time in the snow - I just wish we had snow.

Pathfinder1 · 02-24-2012, 07:21 PM

[QUOTE=campclose; We hike all the time in the snow - I just wish we had snow.[/QUOTE]

Hi...

Wish I could give you some of what we woke up with this morning...I think it was about our third single-day snowfall of the season...but it'll be all gone tomorrow, just like the other ones.

Sorry.