Learning to Read Tracks
Every animal leaves its own signature on the ground. Before heading out, check which species live in your area. Looking for grizzly bears in England or squirrels in the Arctic is a waste of time.
Quick Track Guide (adult sizes):
• Badger. Front paw print (5–8 cm) is seen more often than hind print.
• Fox. Delicate track around 5 cm. In winter, the paw is covered with fur, making prints less distinct.
• Deer. Two teardrop-shaped halves of the hoof. Length ranges from 4 to 8 cm depending on species.
• Wild boar. Hoof length 5–7 cm.
• Beaver. Hind webbed foot leaves a large print — up to 15 cm.
• Otter. Look near water. On wet ground, the webbing pattern shows clearly.
• Rabbit. Hind paws leave much clearer and larger prints than front paws.
• Squirrel. Hind foot resembles a tiny human hand: three toes forward, one to the side. Front foot has four toes.
• Field vole. Track pattern similar to squirrel's, but smaller.
• Hare. Unlike rabbits, hares don't burrow — they sleep in hollows out in the open. Follow the tracks and you may find the bed.
• Hedgehog. Small splayed prints. Important: do not leave bread and milk for hedgehogs — it kills them.
Note: Perfect prints are rare. Ground conditions, weather, and the animal's speed all affect track clarity. A fresh track is darker than an old one. If there are raindrops inside the print, the animal passed by before the rain. Experienced trackers can even read an animal's mood from its gait: a frightened animal breaks into a gallop, an excited one may pace.
Four Gaits
Identifying the track is only half the battle — you also need to understand how the animal was moving.
1. Diagonal walk (step). The animal moves opposite limbs (right front — left hind). This is how dogs, cats and hoofed animals walk.
2. Pace. Both legs on the same side move together. Typical gait for bears, badgers and beavers
3. Bounds. A mustelid (weasel, stoat) places its front paws and pulls its hind paws up to them.
4. Gallop. Rabbits, hares and squirrels push off with powerful hind legs and land on their front paws.
Where to Look?
Animals prefer edges — places where forest meets field, shore meets water. Look for "islands" with three essentials:
• Food. Diverse plants attract herbivores, and predators follow.
• Water. Some animals manage with dew and plant moisture, but most need to drink.
• Cover. Open fields or dense, dark woods without undergrowth are poor spots. An animal needs somewhere to hide.
Silent Clues
Sometimes there are no tracks on the ground, but the animal still leaves traces.
• Displaced stones. Rain creates a soil ridge around a resting stone. If the stone is moved, a damp hollow remains. The hollow's direction shows which way the animal went.
• Turned leaves. The underside is always darker and damper than the top.
• Broken twigs. To check if a break is fresh, snap a similar twig yourself and compare: an old break is dull and weathered.
Trails and Paths
Even on hard ground with no prints, morning dew or frost reveals the route: where an animal passed, the moisture is brushed off, leaving a dark streak.
In thick brush, animals make permanent trails to water or feeding grounds. If you notice several small paths merging into one wider trail — it will lead to water.
What Scat Reveals
Not the most pleasant topic, but highly informative. Droppings can identify the animal without doubt.
• Sausage-shaped — canids, raccoons, bears.
• Sausage with a pointed end — fox.
• Tapering drop — cats.
• Heap of round pellets — rabbits and hares.
• Rectangular blocks with a nipple — deer.
• Thin pencil-like — rodents.
Caution: Old dried scat turns to dust and can be inhaled. Examine visually, standing upwind. Fresh droppings are moist, shiny and attract flies.
Feeding Signs
Deer, lacking upper incisors, tear at leaves leaving ragged edges. Rabbits snip twigs cleanly, as if with scissors. Once you train your eye, you'll notice "leftovers" everywhere.
Dens and Beds
An empty burrow doesn't mean much. Animals often change shelters or use them only for sleeping and raising young.
• A den is active if the entrance is not cobwebbed and there are fresh tracks or droppings nearby.
• A deer or hare bed is a trampled hollow in leaves, shaped to the animal's body.
• A squirrel's drey is a nest in a tree, like a magpie's nest but roofed.
Personal note. Wild animal homes have a special atmosphere. Once I crawled into a root den belonging to a five-meter python (the owner was out, luckily). The hair stood up on my neck from the raw power — it was worth it.
Hair, Sound, and Practice
• Tufts of fur. Brushing under branches, animals leave hair behind. The height tells you the animal's size: deer leave fur at chest height, foxes much lower.
• Hearing. A lion's hunting roar and a lion's feeding growl sound different. African hunters know this. Train yourself: have someone hide a ticking watch in a dark room and find it by ear.
• Noise. A snapped twig, rustling grass, a water splash — the woods are never silent. You just need to learn to listen.
Next guide: The Art of Tracking: How to Observe Wild Animals Previous guide: The Art of Observation: From Kim's Game to Finding Trail Signs You can view the full list here: Survival Guides for the Mountains
