Warming temperatures and rain during the second week of January contributed to significant snow melt. Winter tracking can be a challenge when only intermittent patches of snow remain in the woods. There was just enough at Quabbin Gate 40 on 1/11 and at Barre Falls Dam on 1/14 to present tracking students with identification challenges.
Remember: don't just look at the tracks themselves, but also study the patterns and learn about the different types of animal movements--trotting, walking, loping, bounding, etc.
Remember: don't just look at the tracks themselves, but also study the patterns and learn about the different types of animal movements--trotting, walking, loping, bounding, etc.
 Fisher, loping pattern. (Facebook page quiz.)  Fisher (Martes pennanti)  Two American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  Eastern Coyote (Canis latrans)  Moose (Alces alces) |  Fisher, loping pattern.  Fisher (Facebook page quiz.)  Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus)  Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus)  Moose (Alces alces) |