However, even the stealthiest species leave clues. Look around and you’ll see telltale signs of these animals’ hidden presence. Some are obvious, like large piles of droppings, and others more subtle, like nibbled pinecones. One of the most exciting things to find are footprints. Here are some prints you might find.
Mammal Mysteries
© Luke Massey/2020VISION
Mammals are all around us, from mice and voles to deer and foxes. They’re on our nature reserves, in our parks, and even in our gardens. But how often do you see them? Most mammals like to stay hidden, and they’re very good at it!
Badger Footprint © Philip Precey
Deer footprint © Amy Lewis
Dog footprint © Amy Lewis
Cats and dogs
As a nation of pet lovers, there are millions of cat and dog pet prints around so telling them apart from wildlife prints is key. Although dogs vary wildly in size, their prints are often around 3-5cm wide with four toes and big claw marks. Cat prints are generally 2-3cm wide and have no claw marks.
Foxes
Foxes have four toes and their footprint forms a neat diamond with a triangular foot pad, toes around the sides and front, and two claws forming a point at the front. Their droppings are also dog-like in shape, usually pointy at one end, and full of fur, feathers, tiny bones, seeds and berries.
Badgers
Badger feet have five toes and their prints show a wide, squarish foot pad with five toes at the front with long claws (for digging). Badgers follow the same routes when they’re foraging, so leave well-worn trails across fields or exiting woods and hedges or along fences. They poo in shallow pits called latrines, and their droppings vary from firm and sausage-shaped, to soft and slimy.
Deer
Though we have several species of deer, their tracks are roughly the same shape, just different sizes. Muntjac tracks are around 3cm long, whilst red deer tracks are up to 9cm long. Deer walk on tiptoes, so you only usually see two long pointed toe prints side-by-side, with no claws or foot pad. Deer droppings are smooth, shiny dark pellets; pointed at one end and often stuck together in clusters.
Rabbits
Rabbit prints are oval-shaped and their four feet form a triangle – you won’t really notice separate paw marks. It’s often easier to find rabbits by looking for their little round pellet droppings on lawns and fields.
For more tips on identifying animal signs, visit wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife/how-identify