Winter: A Wonderful Time To Look For Animal Tracks
Durango Herald, Feb 9, 2006
Jennifer Kleffner, Lead Naturalist/Community Resources Coordinator

These tracks found in Southwest Colorado are those of an ermine, or short-tailed weasel. The ermine is a "bounder" that jumps off both front feet, then places the rear feet into the front tracks. Courtesy: J. Kleffner

When leading winter snowshoe hikes with students, I often start the day with the question, "What do you love about winter?"

Answers abound, but usually involve winter sports, snowball fights or hot cocoa. My love of winter in the mountains lies in how it transforms the landscape, both concealing the everyday and revealing signs of our more elusive year-round residents.

Animal tracks can be classified into four categories: perfect step walkers, waddlers, hoppers and bounders.

• Walkers include long-legged winter residents such as coyote, fox, mountain lion, bobcat, lynx, deer and elk. These animals place their rear foot directly into the track made by their front foot, saving valuable energy when walking in the snow. Domestic dogs and cats do this as well, but often not quite as "perfectly" as their wild cousins. Look for a staggered right/left pattern across the snow, similar to what a human track pattern looks like.

• Waddlers have shorter legs, and therefore not quite perfect steps. Their front feet also look different from their back feet. While the track is similar to a walker, the rear foot registers slightly on top of, and sometimes entirely ahead of, the front foot. While our waddlers, such as skunks, porcupines, raccoons and bears, often are not seen in the dead of winter, you may find their tracks after a late spring snow.

• Hoppers include mice, rabbits, hares and squirrels. Hoppers actually over-step their front feet with their back feet when they move (think of playing leap frog), leaving distinct front and rear foot tracks. Back feet are normally much larger than front feet. Cottontail rabbit and snowshoe hare tracks are quite common in our area in the winter. Hares have much larger back feet (6 inches or more) and are normally seen in higher elevation spruce/fir habitat. Mice tracks are often accompanied by a drag line down the middle, left by the tail. If you see hopper tracks that go from the base of one tree to the base of another, you have likely discovered a squirrel.

• Bounders include pine martens and short-tailed weasels (also called ermine). These animals move like a slinky, jumping off from both front feet at the same time, then placing their rear feet into their front tracks. Tracks often show one foot slightly in front of the other, with long leaps, between the tracks. Ermine tracks often include a drag mark between the tracks, making the entire track look like a dumbbell. Ermines are winter lovers, and will torpedo into the snow after mice or other prey, causing their tracks to suddenly disappear.

Winter snow provides a wonderful surface on which to see evidence of wildlife. Whether on a winter hike or spied from a lift chair, take a closer look and see if you can determine who's out and about this winter.