A One Act Tracking Tale - Wenatchee Naturalist

It is late February in the North Cascades near Winthrop, WA. Night falls as the light of a waxing moon casts long black shadows of tall Ponderosa Pines across the white blanket of deep snow. A brief light flurry of new snow settles quietly on top of the crusted snowpack. Lights shine out from inside a cabin, and smoke curls upward from a well-stoked woodstove as two people curl up on a coach with good books. In the nearby forest under cover of darkness, the community of mammals begin their daily search for food.

Let me introduce you to each character in this one-act wildlife tracking drama.

coyote — Coyote pair Photo: Lisa Robinson

Bobcat Photo: Casey Leigh — Coyote pair Photo: Lisa Robinson

Long-tailed Weasel Photo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-tailed_weasel

snowshoe hare Photo: Paul Ballinger — Long-tailed Weasel Photo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-tailed_weasel

Deer Mouse Photo: Susan Ballinger — Deer Mouse

Red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) — Deer Mouse

Twelve hours later, two cross-country skiers head out under bright blue skies and brilliant sunshine.

Each ski silently pushes through a scant inch of fresh snow on top of a trail that had been groomed a few days prior. These perfect conditions allow for tell-tale signs of the drama that unfolded the prior night.

A pair of Coyote weaving almost parallel paths, checking out shrubs and downed logs as they travel together for many miles. They take advantage of the compacted ski trail base.

The skiers follow this Coyote pair for miles. This is the nearly time of year for the birth of pups. Maybe this female is pregnant?

snowshoe hare — Snowshoe Hare tracks are common, especially near tiny creek corridors where thickets of small shrubs like nowberry, rose, and serviceberry grow. Hares eat the living cambium under the bark of woody shrubs.

Evidence of a snowshoe hare using a route several times over the course of the night

In an opening, we find the wing prints of great-horned owl, and the place of attack where a snowshoe hare was taken.

The Snowshoe Hare had crossed the ski track, bounded up onto the bank, and within seconds, a silently flying Great-horned Owl captured it. The Coyote track (lower left) must have preceded this drama, as the coyote didn’t stop to take a sniff.

Snowshoe Hare tracks on the left, with Red Squirrel tracks on the right. These tree squirrels are active in the daytime, so these two neighbors likely didn’t see each other

This tree squirrel was out and about earlier than the skiers! Red Squirrels create snow tunnels to access underground caches of stored conifer cones.

tree squirrel tracks — High up in this Douglas-fir tree, the Red Squirrel whose tracks we see, is calling and alerting the neighborhood to our arrival in this part of the forest

A Red Squirrel was up early, cutting down Douglas-fir cones that still have seeds inside their closed scales. Maybe fresh seeds taste better than cached ones?

This set of Red Squirrel prints show the toenails, and the movement pattern where the hind feet prints overstep the front feet prints.

Forest openings support fields of Antelope Bitterbrush, a favored habitat for deer mice and long-tailed weasels.

Who is this, running along the compacted ski trail?

This track pattern indicates a Deer Mouse, hustling to safety at the base of a nearby shrub.

It looks like this Deer Mouse escaped being eaten by a Long-tailed Weasel on this particular route.

The fresh snow obscured the foot prints, but we followed these tracks and recognized the characteristic bounding pattern of a weasel.

A Long-tailed Weasel bounded across the ski trail and headed to a deciduous shrub base.

It is time for the skiers to head home, but one more wildlife species will reveal itself along the ski trail.

bobcat — At the edge of ski trail, a narrow track pattern of a Bobcat caught the skiers’ eyes.

Did we definitively identify every track we saw- No! Did we have fun following trails and debating about the evidence we saw- Yes! We tried to use our best detective skills to interpretive the stories we saw in the snow.

A good way to get started as a wildlife tracker is to invest in a field guide. Check out recommendations in my bibliography. The Methow Naturalist has kindly shared a print-able handout of Eastside Cascade wildlife tracks. See photos of Eastside Cascades mammal species (as study skins) in my slideshow. Wenatchee River Institute is currently offering a winter tracking class series you can still join.