Always look for the repeating bound pattern ... Look for field guides specific to your region that feature tracks and signs, along with animal ID information. Ask more experienced naturalists ...

Animal tracks are a key component to successfully watching ... Squirrel tracks often show up in a bounding pattern. Photograph by Alicia Penney Tracks left by sqirrels are small and often seen in ...

Mink have a four-print bounding ... top of one another. Tracks usually zigzag. Weasel feet are not webbed, but snow prints may look blurry from fur that grows between the animal's toes in winter.

They leap or bound through the snow, hind feet landing in the tracks ... while the marten usually resides in forested areas. When you observe a set of animal tracks in the snow, study them and then ...

They like to bound off the trail to investigate interesting scents and run up and down the trail to greet people or other dogs. Their track patterns are a lot more disorganized than a wild animal ...

The main excitement was finding tracks of a small otter along the creek. This animal had crossed a snowy ... had cruised down the creek, bounding over the ice from one open water to another.

It is true that many animal residents of the Vail Valley are hibernating ... The weasel, marten and mink fall into the bounders category. They leap or bound through the snow, hind feet landing in the ...