Snow in DC: Wildlife Tracks and Backyard Wonders

Snow in the Washington, DC area! Alert the Press! Rest assured, the Press has been alerted and we out here in snowless (at least at our house) Wisconsin know all about your recent snowfall.

This is a good time to look at animal tracks in the snow to see what’s been moving around your yard. What’s hanging around your birdfeeder besides birds?

Well, squirrels, of course. But you may also find deer tracks, rabbit tracks and others. Maybe raccoon, fox or opossum–all three might be in your area. We used to see the occasional fox or raccoon when we lived in Bethesda, even a coyote once in a particularly heavy snow storm. Foxes would be looking for rabbits and rodents attracted to bird seed on the ground.

The photo is from our Wisconsin back yard. The big tracks are from rabbits. If you look closely, you will see the smaller tracks are actually not footprints, but ridges. Voles, which look like mice with short tails, tunnel under the snow and look for birdseed, and the snow humps up where they tunnel. They also tunnel through mulch and gnaw the bark on trunks of shrubs and young trees, and can do a lot of damage. The are notorious for gnawing on boxwood. We hear great horned owls hooting in the evening and early morning, and I’m hoping that “our” fat little voles are making up a part of their balanced breakfasts.

**from Stephanie: Want to figure out what is leaving tracks in your backyard? Check out our Animal Tracks Of The Mid West Information Guide