UK animal tracks identification for beginners

Winter is the best time to start. Fresh snow and soft mud hold clear prints, and with less plant growth you can follow a trail for longer.

How to read a print

Before you guess an animal, look at four things.

• Toes. Count them. Four, five or two (for deer) narrows it down fast.
• Claws. Foxes, dogs and badgers usually leave claw marks. Cats usually don't, because they pull their claws in.
• Size. Measure the length and width of a clear print. Note whether you included the claws.
• Pattern. Look at several prints in a row. A straight line, a wide waddle and groups of four all point to different animals.

One perfect print is rare. A trail of slightly messy prints often tells you more.

Track features at a glance

Sizes are rough guides for a clear adult print. Prints spread in soft mud and melting snow, so treat them as a starting point.

Fox or dog?

This is the most common question, and there's a simple test.

1. Find a clear print.
2. Imagine a line across the print, just in front of the main pad and behind the two outer toes.
3. Fox: the line usually passes cleanly between the outer toes and the main pad without touching either. The two middle toes sit well forward.
4. Dog: the line usually cuts through the outer toes or the pad. The toes sit closer to the pad and spread wider.
5. Check the trail. A fox walks in a tidy, purposeful line, each hind foot landing in or near the front print. A dog's trail usually wanders, stops and loops back. A trail next to boot prints is most likely a dog.

No single feature is certain. Use them together.

The other common tracks

Badger

Badger prints look a bit like a tiny bear's. Five toes sit in a curve above a wide, kidney-shaped pad, and the front feet leave long claw marks in front of the toes. They're often found on regular paths through woodland edges, under fences and along field margins.

Deer

Deer leave a "slot": two halves of a cloven hoof side by side. Roe deer are the most widespread and leave small, pointed slots. Muntjac slots are tiny, about the size of a large thumbnail, and the two halves are often slightly different sizes. Fallow and red deer leave larger, broader slots. In soft ground or when running, two small dots (dewclaws) may show behind the slot.

Rabbit and hare

Both bound along, so their tracks come in groups of four. The two long hind prints land ahead of the two small front prints. Hare prints are bigger and the gaps between groups are much longer. Rabbit tracks often lead into hedges or towards burrows.

Grey squirrel

Squirrels bound too, so you'll see paired prints with the longer hind feet in front. The toes are long and fine. Squirrel trails often run from one tree to another and stop dead at a trunk.

Otter

Otter prints are rounded with five toes, though often only four show clearly. Look in mud on riverbanks and lake edges, and on sandbanks. In snow you may see a line where the tail dragged behind.

Birds

Most birds leave three thin forward toes and one pointing back. Pigeons, crows and pheasants walk, so their prints alternate left and right. Many small birds hop, leaving prints side by side. Ducks, geese and gulls leave webbed prints near water.

Steps: how to find, measure and photograph tracks

1. Go early. Head out the morning after fresh snow or overnight rain. Prints are sharpest before the sun and footfall soften them.
2. Look in the right places. Check mud at gateways, puddle edges, stream banks, the edges of paths, and the base of fences where animals squeeze under.
3. Pick the clearest print. Look along the trail for one that's crisp on all sides.
4. Measure it. Measure length and width at the widest points. Write down whether claws are included.
5. Measure the stride. Measure from one print to the next print of the same foot. It helps separate walking from running, and big animals from small ones.
6. Add scale. Place a ruler or coin beside the print, not on it.
7. Shoot from above. Hold the camera straight over the print. Angled shots distort the shape.
8. Use low light. Early or late sun from the side makes prints stand out. On dull days, hold a torch low to one side.
9. Photograph the trail too. Step back and take a wider shot showing several prints in a row.
10. Write it down. Note the date, the ground type, the weather and any other signs nearby, such as droppings, hair on wire or nibbled food.

You can send what you find to the Mammal Society through its free Mammal Mapper app.

Respect wildlife

Watching tracks should never disturb the animals that made them.

• Leave setts, holts and burrows alone. Badgers and their setts are protected by law in the UK. Don't dig, block, poke sticks into or stand on sett entrances. Otters and their resting places are protected too.
• Keep your distance. If a trail leads to an active sett or den, stop and turn back.
• Don't share exact locations. Posting where a sett is can put badgers at risk. Share the track, not the place.
• Keep dogs on a lead around setts and in areas with young animals.
• Stay on rights of way and ask permission before going onto private land.

For groups, tracking makes a good winter activity. Give each pair a ruler and a printed copy of the table, and ask them to find and photograph three different tracks.

Common mistakes

• Judging from one print. Prints vary. Look at the whole trail.
• Forgetting melt. Melting snow makes prints bigger and rounder. A fox print can start to look like a badger or dog.
• Ignoring claws. Note whether you measured with or without them, or your sizes won't match any guide.
• Calling every two-toed print "deer". Sheep, goats and pigs leave slots too. Think about where you are.
• Photographing at an angle. Get directly overhead with something for scale.
• Getting too close to setts. It's better to miss a track than to disturb an animal's home.