Tag Archive for "tracks" - The Adirondack Almanack

Posts Tagged ‘tracks’

Monday, May 17, 2021

Looking for fellow trackers

From an Almanack reader, looking to connect with animal tracking enthusiasts:

“Do you know where to find people who are involved in the science and “hobby”Or practice of animal tracking? Some trackers are hunters, but most are not.

I am a person who has always enjoyed looking at tracks and sign for the story they tell, but in the past 3 years I have dug deeper into the techniques of positive ID and deeper knowledge through some amazing books, and going on tracking walks with experts. I have the 120 year old family farmhouse in Indian Lake and find unlimited places for remarkable tracking walks.”

Recreation Highlight: Winter Tracking

by NYS DEC

Now is a great time to search for winter tracks (PDF) or other animal signs visible in the snow. It can be fun to be a detective and figure out what animals have been walking through your yard or across a trail. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Snow conditions can make a difference in a track’s appearance—wet snow captures a print better than powdery snow.
Members in the dog family (coyote, fox, or dogs) will usually leave claw prints above the toes, while the cat family (bobcat, housecat) will not. You should see four toes on both front and back feet for both families.
Rodents, such as squirrels, chipmunks, mice, muskrats, and voles, usually have four toes on the front feet and five on the back. Claws may or may not be seen.
Bring a notebook, camera, or field guide with you.
Sometimes an animal’s droppings, or scat, can help you identify it—a rabbit’s looks like small balls of sawdust.

Find out more in the Become a Winter Wildlife Detective (PDF) issue of Conservationist for Kids.

In case you missed it, check out the recent Winter Wildlife Tracks and Scat Identification Video on DEC’s Facebook page.

Photo by Sandy Van Vranken.

Saturday, April 27, 2019

Poetry: Tracks

by George Cassidy Payne

I know these tracks
in my tendons.
I know this forest.

How it pounds
into the shale, like a
crumbling ravine of snow
the color of mink fur.

I know this forest. Its wisdom
returns to me from vanished
glaciers, and I hear the sleep of
beasts in tombs of rotting Hemlock.

I know that I am not alone, but
these embers of tradition
cannot be shared.

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Survival Of The Fittest On The Pinnacle Trail

by Sandra Hildreth

1 Comment

The story was in the tracks. Thursday was cold, but sunny – I’d had a hunch that it might be a good day to get off the groomed trails and do some exploring. There were a couple of inches of fresh powder on top of a hard crust that covered probably two feet of snow, and skies as blue as they could be.

I drove up to Santa Clara and parked on route 458 by the gated road and the Pinnacle trail sign. It looked like two people had skied the old logging road the day before. Possibly earlier in the day, someone post-holing, walked in with a large dog. That person eventually put on snowshoes and continued to trudge in on top of the ski track. I just skied up onto the crust however, and glided along – probably the smoothest, easiest skiing I’d done all year. The person with the dog didn’t make it very far and turned around. Good – now I could start watching for wild animal tracks in the fresh snow. » Continue Reading.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Porcupines: Waddling Through Winter

by Guest Contributor

4 Comments

The porcupine is one of the most unique and recognizable mammals in our region, and thanks to its short legs and fat body, it’s also one of the slowest.

Of course, a porcupine really has little need for anything faster than first gear, since its quills provide excellent protection from most predators.

It still surprises me though, that a short-legged herbivore that doesn’t hibernate manages to thrive in the deep snow of our northern forests. » Continue Reading.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Cabin Life: The Chickens and The Fox

by Justin A Levine

There’s a steady stream of water pouring off the roof in front of the big window. There are no more icicles, and the shingles are showing for the first time in months. It finally feels like spring.

I sat outside most of the afternoon, relaxing in a lawn chair enjoying a good book. As I sat there soaking up the sun, the snow melted around me. The chicken coop roof is clear after being baked in the sun all day, and the snow fossils of old footprints are melting away.

The chickens have been enjoying the warmer weather and are basking in the sunlight. For a couple of months, I hadn’t gotten more than an egg per day from the three girls, and sometimes not even that. But in the last week, I’ve gotten more than a dozen. » Continue Reading.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Tracking Wildlife: Where Do Bobcats Cross The Road?

by Guest Contributor

Nature Conservancy field technicians this winter are doing wildlife detective work in New York’s Southern Lake Champlain Valley. This in-between zone characterized by farms and forests and crisscrossed with roads may provide a vital “land bridge” for bobcats and other critters to travel to and from large forest blocks in the Adirondacks and Vermont.

Outdoor guide and writer Elizabeth Lee, of Westport, and University of Vermont graduate student Gus Goodwin are working with the Conservancy’s Alissa Rafferty, who is based in Keene Valley. They are collecting records of animal activity that would be impossible to witness in real time. Good old-fashioned tracking skills—finding animal prints left in the snow, measuring their size, assessing the critter’s gait, and piecing together other clues—help them determine if a print belongs to a bobcat or a coyote, a fisher or a fox, a moose or a deer. They also use trail cameras to supplement these records, helping to confirm animal identification, and snapping photos 24/7 no matter the snow conditions. » Continue Reading.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Looking For Cougars In The Adirondacks

by Tom Kalinowski

17 Comments

Last week, the organization, PROTECT the Adirondacks, announced that they plan to begin a program, entitled Cougar Watch, for developing a database of Mountain Lion sightings in and around the Park. For years, many reputable individuals have claimed to have glimpsed this large member of the cat family, which has led some people to wonder whether a small population of these highly adaptable predators currently exists within the boundaries of the Blue Line. With all the sightings entered into a publicly accessible database, it might be easier to draw some conclusions regarding the status of this reclusive feline in northern New York. » Continue Reading.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Ed Kanze: Coming And Going On Well-Trodden Paths

by Ed Kanze

Whose woods are these I think I know—-they’re ours, although the bank that holds our mortgage might qualify the claim. Out in them for a winter walk, I enjoy seeing signs of the comings and goings of wild neighbors. Their tracks and mine overlap, and the thought of it gives me pleasure.

Listen to my thoughts after coming in out of the snow in this week’s edition of All Things Natural with Ed Kanze. » Continue Reading.