What we leave behind

One of the things I love to find in the forest are the signs and tracks of the critters that have walked there before me--and then, relatively recent. 

Upstate New York's forest still teem with many type of animals, with some species making an incredible comeback over the past few decades to include the wild turkey, fisher cat (which is not a cat but a part of the weasel family), and the bobcat. 

So here's a sample of some signs and tracks of what's in the backyard (in some cases, literally).

A red fox, likely hunting mice, in the forests of Painted Post.

A red fox's track.

The Red Fox
The red fox is a skilled hunter of rodents and rabbits.  They are a "long fur" animal, whereas their cousin, the gray fox, is considered short fur. Their tracks are identifiable as their frontal toes are position in front of their back toes, and the red fox often walks linearly (in a straight line).  Note: the coyote also has a similar toe pattern, and the key to tell a red fox from a coyote is the distance between strides and size of the foot.  An adult red fox will have a track about one inch long, while an adult coyote's track will be 2 or more inches long.

The average red fox only weights about 6-8 pounds, although with their fluffy fur, they do appear somewhat larger.


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Black bears--likely a sow and a yearling cub--in the early spring forest.

Bear tracks (yep, going down our sidewalk) on an early April (2017) morning.

The American Black Bear
Ursus Americanus, the American black bear, doesn't have the fearsome reputation or size of its western cousin, the grizzly bear, Ursus Horriblis, but it would be foolhardy not to respect the power and potential danger black bears pose to humans who disrespect a bear's space. 

While females typically top out around 300 pounds, male black bears have been harvested in excess of 800 pounds. 

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If you look closely at this game camera footage, you'll see not one but two coyotes. Hint: look to your left.

Closeup of the Eastern Coyote. Note how you can see the nail prints of the two front toes, too.

The Eastern Coyote
Some consider the Eastern Coyote the smartest critter in the forests of New York. By and large, that's a fair assessment.  Like another wild canine, the red fox, their front toes are aligned with their rear toes; this is also the key to telling a dog, whose toes go evenly around the pad, from a coyote as size of the track along might not differentiate a large male coyote (reaching 60 pounds) to a medium-sized dog.


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A young fisher moving quickly on the game camera.

Tracks of the fisher cat in the snowy forests of Painted Post.

The Fisher Cat
The fisher cat, part of the weasel (and not feline) family and first cousin (in size) to the wolverine, is a relative new returnee to the forests of Upstate New York.  Trapped/hunted to extinction in Upstate New York, In the early 1990s, Pennsylvania re-introduced the fisher cat to control the porcupines, as the fisher is the only natural predator to the "quill pig."  They've since migrated north into Upstate NY.

One popular belief about the means that a fisher takes a fisher is the fisher's lightning fast reflexes (and they are fast!) to reach beneath the porcupine (where there are no quills,  flip it on its back and the eviscerate the porky. This method is probably more myth than routine practice for the fisher.

A more believable attack approach is for the fisher to chase a porky up a large tree, climb up the tree's other side, and then use their unique double-jointed ankles on their rear feet to run down the tree and kill their prey by biting the porky through the head where there are no quills.

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Tracks of the Eastern Wild Turkey. . . To be clear, turkeys don't wear boots.

The Eastern Wild Turkey
There are actually four designated sub-species of wild turkey in the United States: Eastern, Florida (also known as Osceola), the Rio Grande, and the Merriam (found primarily in the mountains of Colorado).  Their tracks are easily distinguishable and much larger than the Ruffed Grouse. 

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A raccoon, aka "ringtail" or woods bandit" caught on a game camera in the forests of Painted Post.

Opossum tracks--while perhaps similar to a raccoon--the opossum's toes are more splayed and the "thumb" offset.

Raccoon tracks in the mud alongside the Tioga River in Painted Post.

The Raccoon
What would a blog dedicated to the Ryland Creek novels be without a picture of a raccoon track? ("Incomplete," I should think the answer be.)

Raccoon tracks are readily identifiable as their front paw in particular bears a strong resemblance to the human hand, albeit much smaller. 

Note: a raccoon's track can be confused with a opossum's track, but the opossum's thumb will be offset (i.e., seem disjointed). See picture to the left.

Ever curious and primarily (but not exclusively) nocturnal, with memories in some instances purported to be better than a dog's, the raccoon is an omnivore that will make a meal out of crayfish, corn, small fish, eggs, and any picnic food you happen to leave out. (Guard your marshmallows!)
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