Tracking 101

All animals leave different footprints, scat droppings, and other signs that allow us to identify them in the wild. Tracking animals helps us understand animals, their behaviors, and how the environment impacts them.

Why We Track Animals

People have been tracking animals throughout history as a way to follow and learn information about animals. Tracking began as a way for hunters to follow and learn information about animals and their behaviors. It was a critical skill to have to find and hunt food. Hunters focus on footprints, scat droppings, rubs, feathers, and other signs to identify species. Great trackers can determine species, if they are a male or female, if they are wounded, and what the animal was doing.

Tracking is not only for hunting. Researchers also track animals. They use technology to help them understand how individuals and populations move rather than focusing on deciphering species and location like hunters. When researching an animal, tracking can provide more information about feeding habits, breeding grounds, and other behaviors. Not only is this information useful for biologists but also conservationists. We consistently track endangered species to monitor their behaviors, migration patterns, and identify their habitats. For example, when scientists use tracking techniques to find critical nesting areas for piping plovers during their long migrations, they can better protect those areas and improve their population. Tracking animals is becoming more crucial as we continue to study how climate change is impacting animals, their habitats, and their needs.

How to ID an Animal Track

All animal species create different tracks. Our first step in determining the animal who left the track is to decide if it is a carnivore (meat-eater), an ungulate (hoofed mammal), or if it is a bird. The most common carnivores in Massachusetts are coyotes, bears, foxes, and bobcats. These footprints can be identified by the presence of pads and claws (the Felidae family, known as cats, do not make claw prints). Hoofed animals like deer, moose, and elk make two distinct marks. Many of the hooves round out at the bottom but different species show pointed ends or different spacing between the hooves. Bird tracks usually show thin toes or a webbed flipper. Birds either have three or four toes, and species can be identified by the direction the toes point.

The shape of tracks is not the only important observation to consider. Track size can help you determine the species between a fox and a wolf, or a deer and a moose. You can measure the stride and straddle of the footprints. The stride is the distance between the heel of one foot to the heel of another (same side: left or right), and the straddle is the width of the track pattern between the left and right heels. Identifying its gait (walking style) is also a key to identifying the correct species. You can determine if the animal was walking, trotting, waddling, galloping, or bounding by observing the size of the tracks and how deep the track is in the ground. The deeper or bigger the track the more weight was placed on that foot when stepping. You can use the Maine Wildlife Tracking handout found in the additional resources section to learn more.

Other Animal Signs

Scat, also known as poop, is another tracking tool that can be used to identify animals and their habits. Carnivores usually have thick, tubular scat while small mammals and herbivores are known to produce small round pellets. The size, color, and contents in the scat also give trackers an idea of the animal species and their diet.

Fur or feathers, teeth marks, rubs, or leftover meals are additional signs and indicators of animal presence. Rubs are areas on trees, shrubs, or rocks where animals leave behind marks, fur, or their scent. For example, whitetail deer rub trees with their antlers to mark their territory and show dominance. Trackers will know to be on the lookout for deer tracks or scat along the trail if they spot a deer rub.

Level Up! Tracking and Technology

The most common tracking technology that is used by researchers is radio telemetry and GPS. Radio telemetry uses radio signals and an antenna system to track the animal, and the researcher must be relatively close to the animal to receive a signal. GPS tracking can be done when a receiver is attached to an animal, and then that receiver picks up satellite signals that record the location of the animal. GPS data can be tracked from a lab rather than in the field and the data can be stored automatically. When using both radio telemetry and GPS, animals must be captured and tagged first to attach a transmitter or receiver. Transmitters and receivers can be collars, tags, implants, or adhesives (only for shelled species).

Activity – Track Prints

Materials: sponge, markers, scissors, paint, paper plate, and paper

1. Look up tracks of different animals or create your own new animal track.
2. Trace or draw the track on the sponge.
3. Cut out the track.
4. Choose different paint colors and put them on the paper plate.
5. Press your track sponge into the paint and then stamp onto your paper to create an animal trail left in the snow.

Exploration:

Print out the Track Identification pages in the Additional Resources section. Head out on the trails to see if you can find and identify what animal family the track belongs to and look for other signs of animals. Bring a sketchbook with you on your hike and sketch the footprint for further investigation at home. Remember that not all tracks will be whole, so try to fill in the missing parts or edges of the track to make it complete.

Level Up! Bring a measuring tape on your hike and try your best to identify the species by measuring the stride and straddle of the tracks, observing the track size, whether it has claws or not, etc. Hypothesize what the animal was doing like running, prowling, eating, etc.).

Additional Resources

Track that Scat! By Lisa Morlock
Track Matchup
MassWildlife Pocket Guide to MA Animal Tracks
Maine Wildlife Tracks