Snow Tracks

by Leah Greenstein

One morning, while skinning up Jake's Peak on backcountry skis, Stewart McMorrow spotted squirrel tracks in the snow that ended abruptly. Where the squirrel tracks stopped, there was a fresh sitzmark (a large imprint in the snow) of a predatory bird that had likely swooped down and snatched up the squirrel. McMorrow, who was working for the State Parks as a wildlife program manager at the time, was able to deduce from the sitzmark and the time of day (it was about 4:30 a.m. and still dark) that the bird was most likely an owl. Signs like these, left in the snow, are what make winter wildlife tracking so fascinating. You can infer a lot about an animal's behavior from its prints: whether the animal was walking or running, burrowing or eating. Tracking gives scientists valuable information about habitat, including an animal's range and its eating patterns. Here are some tracks you might see while out skiing or snowshoeing:

Mule Deer

While mule deer prefer spots with little to no snow in the wintertime, you still may see their tracks, particularly down near Emerald Point. Mule deer prints are heart-shaped, with sharp points. When the snow is deep you can observe dewclaws near the fore of the print. At high speeds, a mule deer will "stot"—run with all four hooves leaving the ground at once and contacting it at once. When this happens, the toes spread into a V-shape, distributing the animal's weight to give it more secure footing.

Pine Marten

Pine marten is an elusive and aggressive predator found (if rarely seen) throughout the Tahoe Basin, but particularly on the West Shore and around Heavenly ski resort. Because martens are very hairy and their heel pads are rather undeveloped, they seldom leave complete prints. When martens bound, the hind prints land on the fore prints, forming print pairs that are slightly angled. If you're following marten prints and they suddenly disappear up a tree, look around the tree for a sitzmark and a new trail where the marten came back down.

Mountain Lion

Mountain lions are not especially common in the Tahoe area. Their tracks are extremely similar to the bobcat, though larger; in wintertime, a mountain lion's prints appear especially big because of the additional fur for the cat's winter coat. The fur may also make the two lobes on the front heel pad harder to discern. Surprisingly, the mountain lion's retractable claws don't register in its prints. In the snow, some of the animal's prints might be obscured by a dragline created by its tail.

Bobcat (Lynx)

Looking much like a small mountain lion's prints, a bobcat's prints are also fairly easy to confuse with the prints of a large domestic cat. The fore print has two lobes on the heel pad and the back print has three. Bobcat trails meander, and if traveling at high speed, the animal's prints appear in groups of four. Bobcats tend to sink a little in the snow so their tracks are generally clearer than those of a mountain lion.

Raccoons

Everybody loves raccoons until one is found rooting in the garbage or breaking into the house through the cat door. They are extremely common in the Tahoe Basin. Their prints look like little human handprints, with five well-formed toes. The small claws appear as dots. A walking raccoon's prints show a left hind print next to a right fore print and vice versa. When raccoons run, their hind prints come ahead of their fore prints, and the tracks appear cluster-like.

River Otter

River otters have webbed feet, making their prints quite distinct in comparison to the majority of animals in the region. The webbing tends to show up more on the hind print than on the fore. The foot-long trough in the snow a river otter makes when it slides down a riverbank is a dead giveaway that you've tracked one.

Black Bear

A common misconception about bears is that they hibernate all winter. Although bears go into what's called a "torpor," where they become inactive for periods during the winter, they still roam around, especially during warmer weather. Black bear prints are similar in length to a human print, but wider. The fore foot has a small heel pad, while the hind foot pad is larger and much more distinct. A walking bear leaves a double register—hind print over the fore—while a running bear's hind feet come in front of its fore feet. Near bear prints, look for "bear trees" with climbing claw marks.

Coyote

Many Tahoe residents are familiar with the late night howling of coyotes. While it can be challenging to distinguish between a coyote print and a domestic dog print, one indication is the trail. A dog's trail is generally more erratic, as the dog wanders around sniffing everything. The coyote's fore prints are oval shaped and slightly larger than those in the rear. The hind heel pads don't always register clearly, but the claws, particularly the two center ones, usually do. A coyote's tail also tends to leave a drag-print.

Snowshoe Hare

The hind print of a snowshoe hare is much larger than that of the fore print. In the winter, the hare's fur thickens and it appears much more prominently in its tracks. A hare's hopping tracks are usually in groups of four and form a triangular shape. Cottontail and jackrabbit prints are similar, but the snowshoe hare's hind prints are larger.