Understanding animal tracks

We have a lot of wild critters around our place. I don't always see them, but they give themselves away by leaving their tracks in the mud or snow. 

Jason Knight teaches wildlife tracking classes at Alderleaf Wilderness College in Washington State. He says one way to start identifying animal tracks is to have a good field guide with pictures, because there are certain clues to look for.
  
"Some of the things you look at right away are the overall shape of the track," says Knight. "Is it round, is it oval, tear-drop shape, is it blocky? You count numbers of toes. Are there four toes in the track, does it have five toes, are there claws showing or are they not showing?  What is the shape of the heel pad? Canines have a real triangular-shaped heel pad where cats have a trapezoidal shaped heel pad."

As you get better at tracking, Knight says you'll be able to unlock more information, such as was the imprint created by an older or younger animal, or a male or female.

You may also want to know when the footprints were made. Knight says you can age tracks by keeping a record of the weather. 

"If you know when it rained, you can look at a track and say did it come before or after the rain based on whether you find marks of rain drops inside the track. They call them rain-pocks," he says. "If you know which way the wind was blowing when a strong wind came through the area, if you can see debris blown into the track. You also look for the amount of moisture that was on the ground when the track was made. In the morning time we get dew and there's a lot of moisture, so tracks will be a lot more clear when they're made in the morning time."

Knight says you might not see any tracks, so learn to recognize other signs animals leave behind such as scat, markings on a tree, or evidence of feeding.