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What animal made these four, lineal tracks in the snow? What are the key identifying features? For perspective, the larger set of prints on the far right were made by a red squirrel.
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Animal Behavior
- Thread starter Waterspyder
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Ermine? At first, looking at the small image, I was thinking mouse but then I logged in and saw the tail drag marks.
Edited: Guess I should have stayed with my first guess.
Edited: Guess I should have stayed with my first guess.
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Too small for ermine, I think they would be about the size of the red squirrel tracks. There are a lot of different kinds of mice out there and it is common to see the tail drag in their tracks.
Ermine have a body weight about a third (+/-) of that of a red squirrel (based on a quick web search) but that's a good point about mouse tails.
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Thanks for responding, guys. Here in east central Saskatchewan, deer mice, shrews and meadow voles are all active during winter. In the 14 years we have lived here, I have never seen any of them running on top of the snow. But deer mice are active mostly from dusk to dawn. Or so I just read. They also commonly leave tail drag marks. Or so I just read yesterday. Shrews commonly leave tail drag marks, but generally move seemingly randomly, and not in a strict linear direction. Or so I read yesterday. Meadow voles are very common on our property, and our dog loves to hunt them In their tunnels beneath the snow. Above the snow they move linearly, and don’t leave tail drag marks. Or so I read yesterday. The image I provided above seems to not have tail drag marks in three of the sets of tracks. Yesterday I sent the image to a trapper, from whom we bought this property in 2008. Based on the tracks generally having no trail drag marks, he thought meadow vole. But not definitively so.
I would welcome more thoughts and input.
I would welcome more thoughts and input.
I've had a few moose cut through my camp on the way to the lake, I'll swear they think "this is MY trail, and I'm using it whether you're there or not"...
I'd say mice or voles. Ermine wouldn't be going back and forth, and they typically dive beneath the snow every few jumps in powder. In harder conditions they have the typical mustelid diagonal paired tracks.
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Ermine also know as weasel, have tracks as big as red squirrels even the smaller least weasel has fairly big feet, so not a ermine. My guess would be some kind of vole which have short tails. Later today, I will look under my bird feeders to see what the red back voles in my part of the world look like in the tail dragging department.
Have to get back to the finish of the Iditarod Sled dog race. Ryan Redington grandson of the founder of the race, Joe Redington has left Safety, Alaska en-route to Nome.
Have to get back to the finish of the Iditarod Sled dog race. Ryan Redington grandson of the founder of the race, Joe Redington has left Safety, Alaska en-route to Nome.
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I had a hard time finding red back vole tracks. Under the bird feeders the snow is packed snow, no new snow lately. Most all the voles at this point in the winter are living out the season under three feet of snow, nice and snug in their subnivean environment. I did find one set of vole tracks crossing a snowshoe trail. The stubby vole tail left continuous impression between its foot prints in the less than three centimeters of wind blown snow.
I like words, and that's a new one for me.
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Spell check and auto correct fought me long and hard on that word.
Every lawyer I’ve known (not many) fancied themselves as word persons. Not a bad hobby, confounding your friends with what you are saying, in a good way.
Every lawyer I’ve known (not many) fancied themselves as word persons. Not a bad hobby, confounding your friends with what you are saying, in a good way.
I saw a Canada goose swim underwater yesterday. At first I saw some geese having a territorial dispute, which is pretty common. As one goose was approaching another with its neck outstretched in attack mode it appeared that goose being attacked dove underwater but I couldn't confirm it. Later that day I got a better look at what was happening. There is a goose family consisting of one parent and five almost grown goslings that I see traveling together. Yesterday there was an additional goose that obviously was not welcome. When it was attacked by the adult it would dive under the water to avoid being bitten or pecked. The surprising thing was that it stayed completely submerged for around 15 seconds and then would resurface about 15 to 20 feet away. This left the adult goose looking in all directions to find it. When it emerged the adult would attack again and the scenario would repeat itself.
I've often felt a bit guilty when birds do that thing of flying ahead of me over & over. It makes sense to go ahead of people since we're coming from the other direction so they fly the other way, but it ends up being counterproductive. I have found that eventually they do loop around & go back. Maybe because I've reached the end of their territory?
I've also noticed, as someone said already, that if I don't stare, but look away from them, they're less likely to flush. It's still possible to watch them from the corners of my eyes, or without turning my head all the way.
Anyone who likes stories like the bear & cougar ones above, should check out the book by Craig Childs, _The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild_ He has a similar encounter with a cougar assessing him as prey.
I've also noticed, as someone said already, that if I don't stare, but look away from them, they're less likely to flush. It's still possible to watch them from the corners of my eyes, or without turning my head all the way.
Anyone who likes stories like the bear & cougar ones above, should check out the book by Craig Childs, _The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild_ He has a similar encounter with a cougar assessing him as prey.
I just came back from visiting my long time friend in eastern Idaho. He lives in a lodgepole pine forest near Yellowstone. Right after I left a cow moose and 2 calves showed up in the backyard where we were cooking for friends on a campfire. We went to the farmer's market in Driggs nearby, and there were 2 grizz in the potato fields near town.
While out for a morning paddle yesterday I pulled up alongside a beaver lodge to listen for any activity inside. This has become a habit lately as the young beavers inside are quite vocal and sometimes can be heard from 50 or 60 feet away. It was a few years ago that I first heard beavers inside a lodge. It was spring and I guess they had new babies and I could hear them mewing softly inside. This year I had heard babies inside again, but now as they are older the noise is louder and more varied. In addition to the mewing I recently have heard them chewing, splashing and thrashing sticks around inside.
When I pulled up yesterday it was quiet and I assumed they were sleeping. I had only been there a few seconds when I heard a beaver slap its' tail. It sounded like it came from within the lodge but I wasn't sure. I thought it may have been outside on the other side of the lodge where I couldn't see so I paddled over. There were no ripples or any evidence of a beaver slap so I was almost 100% sure it was inside. Now the mystery is "why would a beaver do that?" Little did I know that later that day I would confirm that it was inside the lodge and pretty much figure out the "why."
It was late evening and there were a few beavers swimming around near the lodge, when one beaver I hadn't seen splashed and dove near my boat. It wasn't a tail slap but more of a loud swish. I had previously noticed that young beavers need to practice slapping their tails to get good at it. It seemed that when surprised the young ones can't perform under pressure. They would swish and dive, making a big splash, but no tail slap. They would then emerge 60 or 80 feet away and after gaining their composure would give a proper tail slap. After the young beaver dove near my boat that evening, within 30 seconds or so I heard a tail slap from within the lodge. I put two and two together and realized it must have been a baby that slapped its tail in the lodge that morning. I might not know exactly why he did it that morning, but knowing that it was just a "kid" the reason didn't really matter anyway.
When I pulled up yesterday it was quiet and I assumed they were sleeping. I had only been there a few seconds when I heard a beaver slap its' tail. It sounded like it came from within the lodge but I wasn't sure. I thought it may have been outside on the other side of the lodge where I couldn't see so I paddled over. There were no ripples or any evidence of a beaver slap so I was almost 100% sure it was inside. Now the mystery is "why would a beaver do that?" Little did I know that later that day I would confirm that it was inside the lodge and pretty much figure out the "why."
It was late evening and there were a few beavers swimming around near the lodge, when one beaver I hadn't seen splashed and dove near my boat. It wasn't a tail slap but more of a loud swish. I had previously noticed that young beavers need to practice slapping their tails to get good at it. It seemed that when surprised the young ones can't perform under pressure. They would swish and dive, making a big splash, but no tail slap. They would then emerge 60 or 80 feet away and after gaining their composure would give a proper tail slap. After the young beaver dove near my boat that evening, within 30 seconds or so I heard a tail slap from within the lodge. I put two and two together and realized it must have been a baby that slapped its tail in the lodge that morning. I might not know exactly why he did it that morning, but knowing that it was just a "kid" the reason didn't really matter anyway.
I have seen ducks in a stream doing forward ferries and eddy turns, just like whitewater paddlers. Looked online for a video but could not find one.
Been in Yellowstone for nearly a week
Bull elk bugling all over, roaming herds of elk, pack of wolves, fox, pine marten, too many ravens.
And hundreds of bison, they do whatever they please.
No natural predators and up to 2,000, they’re in no hurry ever, or so it seems.
Impressive animals…
Bull elk bugling all over, roaming herds of elk, pack of wolves, fox, pine marten, too many ravens.
And hundreds of bison, they do whatever they please.
No natural predators and up to 2,000, they’re in no hurry ever, or so it seems.
Impressive animals…
It's fun watching ducks in white water. The problem is they can fly away just before they get washed into a hole. Seems like cheating.
A lot animal behavior is perplexing until you figure out what their intent is. I have been able to figure out most animals by thinking real hard and being patient. The group that still baffles me sometimes is bears. They are really smart. They have less fear than most people think they do. Moose have no fear at all.
I think my local beavers are Getting tired of me easedropping and spying on them.They must have dug this sign up while packing mud on their house. This isn’t exactly how I found it, I picked it up to throw it away before I thought it might be personal and decided to take a picture.
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