You most likely would never ask me, so I’ll just toss this out there: my favorite bear track is usually found on one side or the other of a beaver dam. The soil is rich, tender green grass shoots and so soft underfoot, it leaves an indelible print. And my top one of those has the unmistakable back foot, inserted in the front track. Black bear classic, in my opinion.
Whitetail deer tracks: it’s early in the morning, a fresh wet snow of less than two inches has fallen overnight, I know the ridge he will run this morning and just after sunrise, cut fresh in the snow, the buck is on the move, like they were stamped in the snow, just for me, with me scanning each and every sharp cut track for what’s carrying that big rack.
Small circles, in the mornings frosted residue, dappling the top of a downed moss-laden tree, the bobcat slips through the forested floor, invisible to most, but the little tracks show cat. One that’s been up all night, and now off to find a soft warm spot to nap.
Someone should measure the toe length on a great blue heron; it’s most impressive. Probably need such big feet to keep it standing upright.
Mink, simply spoil me, every wet ditch, and the plentifulness in which they traverse. Fine little claws scratching the dirt. Then sloop into the river and gone, into a trackless stream.
--The trout whisperer
