First snow!

ORRINGTON – The first snows of the year are always a treat for us at the Nature Center. A one-inch snowfall is just perfect for reading animal track stories. One inch of snow isn’t deep enough to slow activity of woodland animals, but it’s deep enough to hold a distinct footprint or trail of who’s been here. This week, following such a snowfall, we eagerly went looking.

Squirrel tracks are always abundant, but never cease to amaze us. We found wondrous track detail on a mossy rock with only about 1/4-inch of snow on it. One set of squirrel tracks held every detail down to the toenails, and toe pads of both the front and hind feet. Counting the toes on each footprint we could count five toes on the large hind foot, but only four toes showed on the smaller front foot. The thumb apparently is placed too high to leave a print in the snow.

Counting toes on a squirrel track is great practice for when one must count toe prints of other animals. Definitive identification of animal tracks often depends on how many toes are showing in the track.

Brook trail evidence!

Along the brook trail we found a wonderful variety of track evidence. Deer tracks were abundant and led down to and across the stream at various locations. A nice set of snowshoe hare tracks indicated the animal had been quietly hopping along, but then either got startled or just needed to stretch its legs. The next track was five feet away! Boy can they jump when they need to! In the same area we also found a set of fisher tracks. We didn’t follow them far enough to see if they ever intersected with the hare tracks.

Snow tunnels

The last intriguing track we discovered was that of a meadow vole, a.k.a. meadow mouse. Out in the field one can readily see where the mice and voles have tried to remain hidden beneath the layer of snow. Little troughs in the snow show where the mouse struggled to remain inside a snow-covered tunnel. One inch of fluffy snow is not quite enough to hide the body of a woodland or field mouse. Unbeknownst to one vole, its wiggling back was exposed to our prying eyes as it tunneled its way through the thin layer of snow. Fortunately ours were not the eyes of a more formidable predator!

To discover where an animal has gone and to interpret what happens along the way is a wonderful winter adventure. Track stories can be found anywhere, in the woods or fields of Fields Pond, or even in your own back yard! We will continue to watch for intriguing track stories on our hiking trails in the coming weeks.

Send sightings, comments or questions to fieldspond@maineaudubon.org