Winter 2004

Winter Tracking

	Photo by A.B. Sheldon, Root Resources.

After most humans have scampered indoors to wait out the cold and snow, the wild creatures that spend the winter in Chicago Wilderness quietly find a place to curl up, gather food stored in the fall, or go hunting. You'd never know they were there, except for the evidence they leave behind — tracks.

Home Investigators
To practice your tracking away from the forest preserve, scour your neighborhood sidewalks and driveways after a night's snow. Search for where those yowling tomcats fought last night. Or look for tracks around the tipped-over garbage can, which could lead you to raccoons, opossums, or the neighbor's pesky Labrador.

Where to look for tracks
Most people see tracks first in the snow alongside the trail, or perhaps in the wet mud and sand of a riverbank. A little research about winter animal behavior can help a tracker think more like a wild creature:

• Start where you are: because animals usually try to save energy, many animal tracks appear on manmade trails, other animals' trails, and other easy terrain such as logs and frozen lakes.
• Follow the tracks: a tracker can virtually recreate an animal's experience by following its tracks and looking for other signs, such as scat, fur, feathers, or more tracks, along the way.
• Think "basic necessities": animals are always in the game of survival, especially in winter. Since necessity often drives an animal to move, a track will usually lead to and from places of food, water, shelter, or a hiding place.
• Notice animal interaction: crossed paths, places where an animal hesitated at the possibility of danger, chase scenes, high-traffic pathways to common resources.

Optimum Conditions
A fresh blanket of snow that stops falling in the sunset hours gives an entire night's history of nocturnal animal activity the following morning. Even a light dusting of snow can provide important tracking clues. Damp, cold "snowball-packing snow" can preserve detailed tracks for weeks.

Best Field Guides
Local trackers recommend the following field guides to help you decipher that interesting track or suspicious gait pattern:

• The Peterson Field Guide Series: A Field Guide to Animal Tracks, by Olaus J. Murie
• Mammals of the Great Lakes Region, by Allen Kurta
• The Science and Art of Tracking, by Tom Brown, Jr.
• Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking, by Tom Brown, Jr. and Brandt Morgan

Field Essentials

1. Small notebook — handy for sketching tracks and writing down data, such as where you found the tracks, how far you were able to follow the trail, weather conditions, and time of day. (Pencils can be more reliable than pens in cold weather.)
2. A small ruler or tape measure — to measure footprints and gauge the distance between them.
3. Field guide — for track identification.
4. Camera — for a second opinion on confusing tracks, or in case your efforts lead you to the animal leaving them.
5. Sunglasses, sunscreen, water bottle.

Staying Healthy on the Trail
Snow-covered ground is like a giant mirror, reflecting the sun into the eyes of trackers. Be sure to wear sunglasses and sunscreen on your face, while limiting the amount of time spent staring at the snow. And don't forget to drink plenty of water, too. Even though it's cold outside, your body is still perspiring.

Using Light
Low light angles that persist throughout the winter months (until about mid-March) can expose intricate details left behind in tracks. Keep the track between you and the sun to view the greatest detail. Not enough light? Use a mirror to reflect sunlight into the track, or use a flashlight.

Compiled by Graham Trenda with contributions from Carl Strang, Erik Neidy, Nan Buckardt, and Sandy Fejt.