Latest posts tagged with #NameThatTrack on Bluesky
A bit late for the reveal for #NameThatTrack (dog walking job came in) but our hoppy little friend is either a Deer Mouse or a Meadow Vole! Based on the length of the adorbs tail drags indicated by the arrows, I think we're dealing with a mouse!
Snow with paired small prints, looking hoppy, in a straight line, toonie for scale.
Closer view of paired hoppy track with four arrows pointing to a curved swooping drag mark to the left (3) and right (1) of the paired footprints, with toonie for scale. Paired footprints abot the same width of toonie.
Closer view of paired hoppy track with two arrows pointing to a curved swooping drag mark to the left of the paired footprints, with toonie for scale. Paired footprints abot the same width of toonie.
While I catch up after [waves arms at everything], here's the 1st #NameThatTrack of 2026, the Premier (according to Ash) #ichnology game! I post a pic, you use your tracking skills to answer Qs!
Found next to our compost bin in south BC, arrows pointing to an adorable clue! Answer tomorrow at 12pm!
Work in progress! I'm currently working on a new synthwave track with retro vibes, driving drums, and glowing neon melodies – but it’s still missing a name!
Take a listen and tell me what it sounds like to you.
💬
#synthwave #retrowave #outrun #wip #producerlife #namethattrack #newmusic #dystopian
Screenshot of NCC’s webpage for wildlife tracking webinar.
Join me and Joseph Litke, wildlife tracker extraordinaire,
today at 5:30 pm ET.
www.natureconservancy.ca/en/what-you-...
No experience necessary. Registration comes with NCC’s new wildlife tracking guide.
#NameThatTrack
Animal tracks in snow next to measuring tape.
Animal tracks in snow next to measuring tape.
Animal track in snow next to measuring tape.
Another #NameThatTrack post. I got excited by the snow! These were behind my office, where dogs are very unlikely (but obviously not impossible). We do see foxes and coyotes on the security cameras fairly often. @lisavipes.bsky.social
Animal footprints in snow next to a measuring tape
Animal footprints in snow next to a measuring tape
@lisavipes.bsky.social are these prints from a cat? Or a possum? They seem kind of handprinty. #NameThatTrack
A winter scene, with a layer of white snow all around a big pile of freshly dug dirt. The dirt pile is probably 18 inches high and 5 feet across, on the ditch slope of a road. Trees and snowy field in background and bright blue sky above.
Sometimes you don’t need to #NameThatTrack or even have a track to know exactly who your new neighbours are. Just don’t know how long they’ll stay!
#saskatchewan #farm #wildlife #badger
I hope you all enjoyed this week's #NameThatTrack!
Hopefully I'll collect more footprint images on a wintery walk tomorrow!
This is what made today's track look much broader than a typical dog footprint.
The claw marks were not horribly obvious because the snow melted a touch.
That happens in #ichnology: there's a bit of variation in how footprints appear.
#NameThatTrack #ichnology
Now, anyone who's had their tender bits stepped on by their household doggo or cat (looking at you, Ash!) you'll have felt both a front paw AND a back paw impacting your bits. That's a gait style called direct registering. They will walk in their own footprints. #NameThatTrack #ichnology
Comparison of cat versus Dog footprints, showing the 1. Cat 3-lobed paw pad, non compact toes, and a very flattened X drawn to separate toes from paw pad, and 2. Dog 2-lobed paw pad, toes pointing forward and closely bunched, and a taler X drawn to separate outer toes from paw pad.
Here's an old graphic I did of Cat versus Dog footprints. Cats tend to have a 3-lobed paw pad, while dogs tend to have a 2-lobed pw pad.
Cat tracks are very wide, while dog tracks have digit pads that are close together and point forward. #NameThatTrack #ichnology
Zooming in there are some faint claw marks, but they are not easy to see. Since dogs don't retract their claws when they're not in use, there's more if a chance to see them in footprints. However, they don't always show in footprints, so it's not 100% reliable. #NameThatTrack #ichnology
Close up of two dog footprints in snow, upper circled in red overlaying the blue circled footprint.
This is actually two dog footprints, one imprinting on top of the other. I can't be sure if it's the same dog stepping on its own tracks, but it may be,as there was only one trackway. The red circled track is stepping in the blue circled track. #ichnology #NameThatTrack
Ooh, I got sidetracked processing hot peppers, so I'll do the #NameThatTrack reveal as I clean up!
I was a bit of a stinker posting this one: it's tricky!
Today's track is from DOG!
Let's look at the clues! #ichnology
Me looking for toenail marks. I think I see them so I going with dog. #NameThatTrack
Black glove to the left of a large (3-4 inches) apparently four toed footprint in the snow, could be either a large dog or large cat. Text reading #NameThatTrack
Hear ye, hear ye! It's time for #NameThatTrack, the online #ichnology game where I post a pic and you answer questions using your tracking skills.
Today is a special subset game: in south BC, we have both large and small felines and canines. Is today's trace Cat or Dog? Answer at 4pm PST today! 🧪
Hopefully you all enjoyed the first of the winter #NameThatTrack! #ichnology
One possible candidate is a Northern Red-backed Vole, but we can't be 100% sure unless we see the critter make the tracks! #NameThatTrack #ichnology
sierraclub.bc.ca/northern-red....
You were right: mice have long tails and would leave a longish tail drag in deep snow. What short-tailed rodents are in the south BC? Voles are up and around!
What species of vole? We can only tell that be done if someone had done a species-level track comparison. #ichnology #NameThatTrack
I want to play!! Mine is easy …
#NameThatTrack
Vole trackway in snow with a finger pointing for scale, why a blue circle around a rodent-shaped body impression.
Another cute clue is that there's a faint body outline!
Sparrows and other hoppy birbs tend to not leave tail impressions with their tails straight: they typically flair their tails out. #NameThatTrack #ichnology
Alrighty! It's reveal time for #NameThatTrack!
It's itty, it's bitty, and probably a bit bitey!
We're likely looking at the trackway of a bouncy vole!
Let's look at the #ichnology clues!
A lot of you noted the central drag mark in-between the peets, and noted that it seemed too short for a mouse...
3-ish more hoursb left to get your guesses in for the World Renouned* #ichnology game #NameThatTrack!
*Ash is my world and he meowed with approval, so I'm going with it.
Oh, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a #NameThatTrack! First thought is a small bird hopping along, with a bit of a tail drag, before it took off. I have no idea what kind of bird though!
I'm a goof and forgot the #ichnology tag AND that I'll reveal the possible trackmaker at 4pm-ish PST!
#NameThatTrack
Small paired interrupted grooves in the snow, each interruption ending with a pair of deeper holes and with a third small short center groove. Finger with dark nail polish for snake, finger tip roughly the length of the deeper groove hole end. #NameThatTrack in upper left corner and date 20/11/2024 in lower right corner.
Now that the snow is here, it's time for #NameThatTrack!
I show you a trace made by a critter, and you use your tracking skills (you know you have them!) to guess the critter and/answer questions.
Taken in south interior British Columbia, can you guess the track-maker?
The answers to this week's #NameThatTrack are:
1. Snowshoe rabbit!
2. Traveling towards the top of the pic!
Snowshoe 🐰 tracks are BIG. Rear paws are snowshoe shaped with broad toes. Running bunnies place their rear paws in front of the front paws in the direction of travel!
Thanks for playing! 🧪
1.5 hours to try your guess before the reveal of this impromptu #NameThatTrack! 🧪
What do you win with a correct guess in #NameThatTrack?
How about a new set of shiny bragging rights!
Two hind paws under/below one forepaw track in the snow, tear drop shaped impressions, to the right of a tan and orange hiking boot.
Impromptu #ichnology game of #NameThatTrack ! The only things I like about the new snow are footprints! Here's a pretty from my weekend dog walk in south interior BC.
1. What critter made it?
2. What direction was the critter going?
Size 10 lady hiking boot for scale.
Reveal at 5pm PST! 🧪
