Finding Footprints – How to Spot the Hidden Wildlife On Your Walks
Wild Walks
During the first UK total lockdown from March 2020, Sally and I went for long walks while we waited for the world to heal. I started filming one walk per week and posting online as “Wednesday Walks”, as people locked down in cities, and people far from Scotland were asking me to show them our surroundings.
Surprisingly to me (since my Instagram is supposedly focused around Sally), the big attraction wasn’t Sally herself but the landscape, and the little things. I was asked for the names of flowers, the bird calling in the background, the rock types of the bright pebbles in the stream, for the history of the cottage I walked past, the families on the gravestones in the kirkyard? Since lockdown ending, I’ve mostly stopped filming as I often walk Sally alone, so I’m uncomfortable giving out exact location details. I’ve decided instead, I’m going to do a nature walk photo essay blog series here. I’ll try to put up a post once a week/fortnight focusing on something I’ve seen on our walks and showing and telling you about it. I hope you enjoy these little glimpses into the world of the fluffy wolf.
Leave Only Footprints, Take Only Photographs…
How About Take Only Photographs of Footprints?
Telling a story about snow, in the hope we get another snowfall before winter is over, because that would make the fluffy one VERY happy.
I was walking in the last remaining patches of snow with Sally a couple of weeks ago and it was completely quiet. We had the whole place to ourselves, and as it was late afternoon even the birds were mostly silent as they were tucked up for the night. I’d have thought we were the only living creatures to have ever been that way, except the path was covered in footprints both human and animal. Also, since this last snowfall I found rabbit prints in the garden in an area where I didn’t know we had rabbits, the large stag’s footprints much closer to the house than I’d expect him to come (I guess that’s this year’s crop of snowdrops about to get eaten too), and smaller dainty deer prints further up the hill – do we have roe deer? I didn’t think so but maybe we do… I’m now a wee bit obsessed with looking for tracks to find out who shares my walking routes. So I really hope there’s more snow soon!
Not only is snow a beautiful background canvas for your photos, but every wild creature will have left their mark in that blank canvas. Ever wondered why your dog always sniffs round a particular bush? Now the pheasant tracks give the game away.
I’ve found that the best time to go looking for prints isn’t immediately after fresh snowfall, but the next day. Give it time for all the nocturnal creatures to have left their marks. Yes, the prints will sometimes be starting to melt away, but other times the frost will have baked in every detail.
Have a look next time you are out walking after snow. What wild animals share your local areas?
On Sally’s walk we found numerous bird tracks, deer hoof marks and rabbit paw prints along the path.
Some Top Tips For Finding Tracks –
Look around bushes and trees as many smaller animals and birds like to be next to shelter
At night the larger creatures such as deer and foxes often use the main trails so check the path. There could be animal tracks as well as human footprints.
Beside water is a good bet because although the animals can use the snow for hydration, many seem to prefer flowing water if there’s still some available.
Take photos and use your boot for size comparison if you need something for scale.
Look up the species later, most old school ID guides have a drawing of the tracks, and online guides use either drawings or photographs.
Be aware that if the prints have melted and refrozen several times they will have increased in size. You most probably don’t have giant deer, direwolves or yeti (in welly boots) living nearby, just that the freeze-thaw cycling has stretched the prints! Or maybe you do, you never know… Happy hunting!
