On January 1st, the Bethany Land Trust started the new year with a First Day Hike, guiding 27 hikers along newly rerouted trails in the Simpson Preserve and through Veterans Memorial Park. From there, we climbed into the woods above the lake to the Bethany Bog, enjoying a bright, sunny day despite chilly temperatures in the 20s.
A recent snowfall made the hike especially fun, as we were rewarded with animal tracks in the snow. While areas of melting and refreezing blurred some prints, several tracks were fresh and clear enough to identify. Of particular interest were deer and coyote tracks traveling close together…. Was this evidence of a coyote pursuing a potential meal? It’s impossible to know for sure, since we stuck to our trail and didn’t follow the tracks, but moments like this remind us how much wildlife activity happens quietly around us, even when we don’t see the animals themselves.
We also spotted gray squirrel tracks, which are common but easy to overlook. Because squirrels are tree-dwellers, their tracks often lead directly to tree trunks. Their movement pattern is rather distinctive, as the larger hind feet land ahead of the smaller front feet, creating a bounding pattern that’s easy to recognize once you know what to look for.
One exciting find was what appeared to be bobcat tracks, which are sometimes confused with coyote prints. In Connecticut, this is a common mix-up. One major difference lies in the shape and “negative space” of the track. Coyote tracks are more oval and typically show an “X” shape in the empty space between the toes and pad, while bobcat tracks are rounder, with a more open “C”-shaped space and no visible claw marks. Cats, unlike canines, usually keep their claws retracted.
Winter is one of the best times of year to notice wildlife presence in our forests. Tracks and other wildlife signs offer clues about what happens when people aren’t around, helping us better understand and monitor wildlife diversity, which serves as an important tool for tracking long-term changes in our local ecosystems. We hope you’ll bundle up and explore the Bethany Land Trust trails this winter, where a walk in the snowy woods offers a chance to observe these signs and gain insight into how animals use and rely on our protected lands.
Happy hiking,
Ali Beres-Nork
A good CT winter tracking article is here: Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Wildlife Division. (2017). Tracking wildlife in winter [Connecticut Wildlife article]. https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/deep/wildlife/pdf_files/outreach/connecticut_wildlife_magazine/cwnd17pdf.pdf