Did you ever come across a set of footprints and wonder what kind of animal made them? After a recent storm, I noticed a variety of non-human prints left in the snow. I recalled an article we published in the 2003 Farmers’ Almanac that offered suggestions on ways to identify wildlife prints. Here are a few tips from this story:
Identify the critter by its toes.

• Deer and moose leave an imprint of two clear semicircular hoof-like toes.
• Foxes, coyotes, dogs and wolves leave oval shaped prints showing four toes with claws and separate heel pads.
• Cats and bobcats do the same, except their tracks leave no claw marks.
• There are five-toed prints from weasels, minks, skunks, otters, raccoons, muskrats, beavers, and black bears. Finally, there are critters with four front toes and five hind toes including chipmunks, mice, red and gray squirrels, and woodchucks.

Often, the only way to identify animals with similar footprints and movement patterns is to measure the size of the footprints, then the length of their strides and width of their trails.

•  A coyote’s footprint is about 3″ to 3 1/2″ long, while a fox measures 2″ to 2 7/8″.
• A cat and a bobcat are similar in size but the length of their strides is far different. The bobcat leaves a 10″ to 13″ distance between prints. A house cat has a small 6″ to 7″ stride. To make it a little more complicated, you have to consider the part of the country you are in when looking at prints. Coyotes in the East are generally larger than those in the West.

The tracks I saw were clearly deer and fox. If you get a fresh coat of snow ( I see there is finally snow in the Southeast today), or are out hiking in the woods, take a moment to see who or what you are sharing the trails with.

If you spot tracks or have experience identifying animals, contact me at pgeiger@farmersalmanac.com