We just had what could have been a significant snow storm during the past month. The storm brushed to our south, however, and left us with anywhere from a dusting to six inches of snow. It was easy to clear off, but not quite enough to cross-country ski unless you were on a lake or a pretty smooth trail. The morning after the storm, I took my camera and went on some nearby trails to see what could be seen.

One thing that was really obvious was that animals were moving around. Even though I couldn’t see many animals on my walk, I saw the tracks left by several species as they moved through the snow at some point after the snow stopped falling. It was windy outside and the powdery snow was already starting to fill in some tracks, but plenty of tracks were behind big trees and among stands of hemlock; this served to protect the tracks from being filled in by wind-driven snow.

You can track to some extent with a wide variety of snow conditions, but the best track is made by snow that packs well and is not too deep; snow that falls at just below freezing usually will yield tracks with lots of detail. Really cold conditions or sleet/granular snow doesn’t pack well. You will see tracks, but not with much detail. You will be relying more on the size of the print, the space between tracks, and other characteristics such as alignment, etc. to identify the animal that left the track.

Whether you see the perfectly lined-up tracks of a turkey, or some tracks that resemble a giant house cat, tracking can be fun and it’s a good excuse to get out of the house. Dress for the conditions and enjoy.