Tracking in Snow

Shout out to Lauren for capturing some awesome track pictures on her last hike in the mountains! Winter is the perfect time to hone in your tracking skills, or begin looking at tracks for the first time. A snowy landscape reveals so many secrets of the forest. Infinite stories are told in a set of tracks if you know what to look for.

The two types of pictures Lauren took are critical to track identification. It is best to have a close up of the print to show details of the animal's feet (with something next to it ~~fur~~ for scale, a ruler or hand), and a picture of the track pattern , to show how the animal was moving.

For starters, we will stick with tips on identifying the print an animal makes. Below are a handful of different prints from animals you may see in Washington.