Comments on: Online Guide To Animal Tracks: 6 track families & how to identify with confidence https://nature-mentor.com/animal-tracks/ Tue, 14 Mar 2023 17:11:03 +0000 hourly 1 By: Brian Mertins https://nature-mentor.com/animal-tracks/#comment-6840 Tue, 11 Jan 2022 20:21:17 +0000 https://nature-mentor.com/?p=4578#comment-6840 In reply to Ken Chapman (83 years old).

Hi Ken, most likely what you’re seeing here is 2 tracks landing just slightly offset from each other.

It could be a single animal moving with the hind landing indirectly next to the front. Or it could be multiple animals walking generally in each other’s footprints, giving the appearance of 6 toes.

Examining closer you probably would have been able to see this more easily. Another helpful tip is to look at the gait pattern (walking vs trotting vs loping), which will help you determine whether it’s a single animal with indirect register or multiple animals.

Thanks for your question! Keep up the adventuring!

]]> By: Ken Chapman (83 years old) https://nature-mentor.com/animal-tracks/#comment-6838 Tue, 11 Jan 2022 15:09:36 +0000 https://nature-mentor.com/?p=4578#comment-6838 Our recent 14″ snow revealed a track I would not believe could exist. I am in rural eastern Virginia north of Richmond. The track on a dirt road through a mixed forested area traveled only by me showed six (6!) toes arranged with two at the top and two each on the sides in a rectangle about 2.5 or 3″ on a side. They were essentially symmetrical with no metacarpal or heel pad. I was immediately puzzled but did not examine the track further because of downed trees and related pressing concerns. (Other tracks revealed travelling deer, coyotes, dogs, bobcats, rabbits, and raccoons.)
Thanks for any information you might have.

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