A new snowfall turns the woods into a record of everything that moved after the flakes stopped. The best time to read it is the morning after a storm, when low sunlight makes every print stand out and the tracks are crisp. Each animal leaves more than a footprint. The spacing, pattern and even the way snow is disturbed tell you how it moved, whether it was walking, bounding, hopping or sliding. Learning a handful of common tracks makes any winter hike more interesting and gives you a way to see animals you will probably never meet. The twelve below are among the most frequently found in North America, and they cover a range of sizes and gaits. Size is useful but varies with snow depth and the age of the track, so look at the whole trail. Photograph prints with something for scale, such as a coin or glove, and note the direction of travel. Keep your distance if you find an animal. Never follow tracks so closely that you disturb wildlife, which is under stress in winter and needs its energy to survive.
The most common large track in many parts of the United States belongs to the white-tailed deer. It is a split hoof, two pointed toes forming a shape like a heart or an upside-down teardrop, usually two to three inches long. In deep snow or when the animal is running, the small dewclaws behind the hoof may print as two dots. A walking deer leaves a neat, almost straight line of paired prints, with the hind feet landing in or near the front prints. A running deer leaves widely spaced groups. Look for beds, oval depressions in the snow where deer rested, and for browse where twigs have been nipped. Deer yards, traditional wintering areas of dense conifers, hold many animals when the snow is deep, and tracks form well-worn trails between them. Avoid walking through yards, since deer use stored energy each time they flee. The tracks of mule deer, elk and other hoofed animals are similar in shape but differ in size, with elk much larger.
Moose tracks resemble those of deer but are much larger, often four to six inches long or more, with a more rounded and splayed shape. The size and the long stride are clues. In deep snow, moose do not lift their legs cleanly and leave drag marks, long furrows between prints. The animals can move through snow that stops most other mammals, and their long legs act like stilts. Look for browse lines on willow, birch and fir branches, where twigs have been stripped as high as a person can reach, and for large oval beds. Winter is a hard season for moose, which burn energy fighting snow depth and ticks in some regions. Never approach one, since moose can be unpredictable and aggressive, especially cows with calves or bulls in the fall rut. Keep dogs under control, because moose may charge a dog and bring it back to its owner. Tracks near roads and railways show where they use cleared paths. They are found across Canada, Alaska, New England, the northern Rockies and the Great Lakes region.
Hares and rabbits make the classic bounding pattern that many people remember from childhood: two large hind prints side by side, ahead of two smaller front prints that sit one behind the other. The hind feet swing past the front ones when the animal hops, so the pattern looks like an exclamation mark pointed in the direction of travel. The snowshoe hare, common in northern forests, has enormous hind feet, up to five or six inches long, that spread its weight on soft snow, and it turns white in winter for camouflage. The eastern cottontail has smaller prints and a pattern that is more compact. Tracks tend to cluster near thickets, brush piles and the edges of fields, where the animals feed on twigs and bark. Look for clean, angled cuts on branches, which are typical of rabbit browsing. Predators such as foxes, lynx and owls follow these trails, so rabbit tracks often lead to the tracks of something else. Hare populations cycle over years, and the effect is visible in the number of tracks.
Gray and red squirrels are active all winter, and their tracks are among the easiest to find near trees. Like rabbits, they bound, leaving paired hind prints ahead of paired front prints, but the prints are smaller, usually an inch or two, and the groups are spaced closer together. A squirrel trail typically runs from tree to tree, and it often ends at the base of a trunk or at a hole in the snow where the animal dug for a buried nut. Squirrels cache food in autumn and find it again by smell, leaving small pits and scattered debris. Look for the leftovers of feeding: pine cone scales, nut shells and the shredded cores of cones, called middens, which can pile up under favorite perches. Fox squirrels and flying squirrels leave different patterns, and the latter are mostly nocturnal. On very cold days, squirrels stay in their dens, so trails may stop when the temperature drops. The tracks offer a clue to which trees are food sources, and they show how active the forest remains.
A fox track is a neat, dainty line, and it is one of the signature patterns of winter. The prints are about two inches long, oval, with four toes and small claw marks in front, and a distinctive chevron-shaped pad. Red foxes have fur between the pads, which can make the prints look fuzzy or indistinct in snow. The animal travels in a nearly straight line, placing each hind foot in the print of the front foot, called direct registering, which saves energy and leaves a single file of prints. Look for the tracks along fences, field edges and old roads, where foxes patrol for mice. A pounce site shows where a fox leapt to catch a mouse under the snow, with a scatter of prints and a small hole. Urine marks show up as yellow spots on snow, often with a skunky smell. Foxes hunt mostly at dawn and dusk, so fresh tracks suggest recent activity. Canid tracks are similar, so check the pattern, size and claw marks to separate foxes from small dogs.
Coyote tracks look like those of a medium-sized dog, but they are usually more oval and compact, about two and a half to three inches long, with four toes and visible claw marks. The two center toes point forward and are close together, unlike the more spread toes of many domestic dogs. A coyote often walks in a straight, purposeful line, like a fox but with a longer stride, and its trail may cover long distances. Look for scat on the trail, often twisted and filled with hair and seeds, which marks territory. In snow, coyotes follow roads, trails and frozen creek beds, and they travel in pairs or small groups. They hunt mice, rabbits and carrion, and fresh tracks near a deer carcass suggest a feeding site. Wolves leave larger prints, four inches or more, and the difference becomes clearer in side-by-side comparison. If you meet a coyote, do not approach or feed it, and keep pets leashed. Their presence is a sign of a functioning ecosystem, even in suburbs, where tracks often show up in parks and golf courses.
Bobcats are secretive and rarely seen, but their tracks give them away. The print is round, about two inches across, with four toes and a pad that has a double lobe on the leading edge and three lobes at the rear. Unlike dogs and foxes, cats walk with retractable claws, so claw marks do not show in the print, a key identification clue. The toes are asymmetrical, with one leading, and the print looks more circular. Bobcats walk in a direct register pattern in a fairly straight line, placing the hind foot in the front print. They often travel along ridges, rock ledges, logging roads and the edges of cover, hunting rabbits, squirrels and birds, and they may use the same route repeatedly. Look for scrapes and scat covered with debris. In deep snow, bobcats prefer packed trails and compact paths, and their tracks may be easier to see along snowmobile routes. Lynx, found in the northern mountains, leave much larger prints with heavily furred feet, which spread on snow like snowshoes.
Weasels, ermine and mink leave a pattern that looks like a series of paired dots in the snow, usually spaced a foot or more apart. Their small feet, about an inch across, land in pairs as the animals bound, and the long, flexible bodies leave a smooth gap between the groups. They move in rapid bounds, popping in and out of holes in the snow and under logs as they hunt voles and mice. A trail often ends at a hole, then reappears yards away. The ermine, the white winter coat of the short-tailed weasel, is a bold hunter that can take prey larger than itself. Mink prefer streams, marshes and lakes, and their tracks follow the water's edge, sometimes leaving a belly drag or slide. Their tracks are hard to see in powder and show best in a thin layer of snow or on a crust. If you find a weasel trail, follow it for a short distance and look for the scattered remains of a meal. Fur color changes with the season, and in the north, the animal turns white.
River otters are playful, and their tracks often show it. In deep snow or on ice, otters slide on their bellies, leaving a smooth trough about a foot wide with paw prints along the sides, sometimes called a slide. A series of bounds and slides can run along a riverbank, down a hill or across a lake. Their prints show five toes, often with webbing visible, and are about two to three inches wide. The tracks lead to open water, where otters hunt for fish, crayfish and amphibians, and they may enter holes in ice or beaver lodges. Look for latrines, patches of scat full of fish scales and crayfish shells, along favorite spots. Otters are present across much of North America, in rivers, lakes and coastal areas, and are returning to places where they were once absent. In winter, they stay active and often use air holes in the ice. Stay off thin ice near these tracks, since otters can use areas that would not support a person, and give the animals space.
Raccoon tracks look like tiny human hands, and they are among the most recognizable. Each print shows five long, slender toes, and the hind feet leave a longer, narrower print that resembles a baby's footprint. The animals walk with a pigeon-toed gait, placing front and hind feet in diagonal pairs, which creates a staggered pattern. Raccoons do not hibernate, but they become less active in cold weather, and may stay in their dens for days or weeks during severe cold, living off stored fat. A mild winter day may bring them out, so tracks tend to appear after thaws. Look for them near streams, ponds, garbage cans and under bird feeders, where they forage. Tracks often lead to tree cavities or culverts used as dens. Be careful with raccoons, which can carry rabies and other diseases, and keep a safe distance from any animal acting oddly. Their widespread presence, including in cities, makes their tracks a common sight in parks and along suburban creeks.
Bird tracks on snow are easy to miss, but wild turkey prints are large and distinctive. Each shows three forward toes and a shorter rear toe, with a total length of four inches or more, and the central toe is longest. Turkeys walk in flocks, so tracks often appear in groups, with scratching marks where birds dug through the snow for acorns and seeds. Drag lines from wing tips show up when a turkey takes off or lands. Ruffed grouse leave smaller prints and have a unique winter habit: they dive into deep, powdery snow to roost, creating a small tunnel with an exit hole behind it. The snow insulates the bird from the cold, and the tunnel can be found in forested areas with soft snow. Grouse also feed on buds of aspen and birch, and their droppings appear at roost sites. If you flush a grouse from the snow, it explodes upward with a loud whir. Avoid walking over tunnels, since a disturbed roost can leave birds exposed.
The smallest tracks may be the most abundant. Mice and voles leave tiny prints, often less than half an inch across, usually in bounding pairs with a thin tail-drag line down the center. Deer mice and white-footed mice hop, leaving a pattern of four dots with a line, while voles tend to walk or scurry. Their trails typically begin and end at holes, since much of their life in winter happens under the snow in the subnivean zone, the insulated space between the ground and the snowpack, where temperatures stay near freezing even in severe cold. You may see a short run across open snow from one hole to another, a risky journey that often ends in a pounce mark from an owl or fox. Wing impressions from owls look like feathery brush marks in the snow. Tracks lead to seed sources, such as dried weed stalks and grass heads. Though small, these animals are the base of the winter food chain, feeding foxes, hawks, owls and weasels. Reading their trails opens up a hidden world.
