Need help with track id

[3blade]

Need some help from those more knowledgeable than I. Never seen this one before. Figured trappers know tracks better than anyone. Pine Martin?

[mxz1997]

I'd say squirrel. Definantly not marten cuz it jumps with all four feet together.

[john316]

what you have there is a whitetail Deer the Deer is bounding away

[HunterDave]

What part of the province do you live in 3blade? We have no martin around here and I regularly see similar tracks made by weasels with about 3 foot bounds. To me the picture with the four imprints in the snow look small like small weasel legs would make but I've never seen martin tracks so I can't be sure.

I want to hear what the more experienced Trappers think too.

[KegRiver]

I.m not sure what to think.

Possibly a Gray Squirrel.

I think the track is too large to be a Weasel and it doesn't look right for a Marten track. I know it's not a Mink and it's too large and the tracks too far apart to be a Red Squirrel.

The only thing left that I can think of is a Gray Squirrel. They get pretty big from what I've heard.

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by mxz1997

I'd say squirrel. Definantly not marten cuz it jumps with all four feet together.

Now that I look at the picture with the four imprints, two small and two large, I think that you're right. Usually the four prints are very noticeable to me but I suppose that bit of powder may change things a bit. I'll take a picture of some weasel tracks tomorrow for comparison and post them up.

[South west trappin RG]

I look at squirl tracks all winter today was the same. They are a short tail weasel. The season is done in allot of the southern parts of Alberta.

[3blade]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

What part of the province do you live in 3blade? We have no martin around here and I regularly see similar tracks made by weasels with about 3 foot bounds. To me the picture with the four imprints in the snow look small like small weasel legs would make but I've never seen martin tracks so I can't be sure.

I want to hear what the more experienced Trappers think too.

This is 20 min north of Edmonton, my parents acreage. weasel was my first thought by the 4 feet together as well. seemed like pretty big bounds for a weasel, but i'm no expert. How big do they get? the ones ive seen are maybe 12 in nose to tail.

Originally Posted by KegRiver

I.m not sure what to think.

Possibly a Gray Squirrel.

I think the track is too large to be a Weasel and it doesn't look right for a Marten track. I know it's not a Mink and it's too large and the tracks too far apart to be a Red Squirrel.

The only thing left that I can think of is a Gray Squirrel. They get pretty big from what I've heard.

Pretty sure its not a red, ive seen them make tracks and agree these are way too far apart. Saw a grey squirrel at moose lake (20 years ago). Been told they don't live this far north, but i got a good 5 min look at it. Could be another one.

The place is just off a creek so there are all kinds of animals that show up.
Thanks for the responses guys

[HunterDave]

Originally Posted by 3blade

This is 20 min north of Edmonton, my parents acreage. weasel was my first thought by the 4 feet together as well. seemed like pretty big bounds for a weasel, but i'm no expert. How big do they get? the ones ive seen are maybe 12 in nose to tail.

You're not far enough north for it to be a martin and you're too far north for it to be a long tailed weasel, and if you say it's not a squirrel then I gotta say that it's a short tailed weasel. There's been at least one in the area of my bait pile and I've been watching his tracks all winter. It's kind of amusing to look at his tracks and try to figure out what it's doing. They seem to bound pretty far like that when they're in the open getting from one place to another in a hurry (woodpile?)......don't want an owl getting them.

I'm putting out a couple of weasel boxes tomorrow and I'll take a picture of the tracks that I know of to post up as a comparison. Pretty much the same in some places.

[pickrel pat]

weasel family.

[dugh]

Flying squirrel. We've got several just north of Edmonton.
Doug

[Red Bullets]

I would guess squirrel. Could be a prairie longtail. You are not too far north. Just because there are 4 prints within each bound leads me to think squirrel.
Weasel usually show as 2 prints.

[The Spruce]

Squirrel all day long. Weasel family never leaves 4, 2 in, 2 out. Only Squirrel or rabbit...and thats too small for a rabbit.

[Okotokian]

It's clearly an axe.

hang on, gotta call Lido.

[KegRiver]

I've been studying tracks for about 50 years. One thing I have learned, some times animals make tracks that do not look like one would expect.

It could be a Prairie Long Tailed Weasel, but I don't think so. For one thing, members of the Weasel family usually, but not always, place one foot bit ahead of the other in such a way so that the tracks look angled to the direction of travel.
Rodents tend to place their feet side by side.

These tracks do not appear to me to be offset enough to be a member of the Weasel family.

[HunterDave]

Here's what I found today. The patch of bush where I took these pictures is about 6 acres square surrounded by grain fields on three sides and marsh/willows on the last side. It's all softwood trees and there are no squirrels in this area. I put out 4 weasel boxes so hopefully I can provide pictures of the weasel if/when I catch him.

The first picture are tracks of a short tailed weasel bounding in similar type snow as what's in 3blades' pictures. The distance between bounds was about 3' but I've seen them farther apart when they are in a hurry. The bigger tracks to the left was a rabbit.



This pictures shows the the feet together paw prints that were typical throughout the set of bounding tracks.



I found a couple of spots in the same set of tracks where the weasel stopped to look around or did something different because it looks more like a squirrel track due to the four paw imprints.



I'm going to have to post before being able to compare photos with 3blades'.

[KegRiver]

Nice photos Dave.

I wonder if anyone has photos of a Prairie Long Tailed Weasel track and measurements of their reach? That might be helpful.

But at least your photos prove what I suspected, it's not a rabbit or a regular Weasel.

I still think it's most likely a Squirrel and I'm thinking it must be a Gray Squirrel because of the size of the imprints.
I've seen Red Squirrel make jumps like that when crossing open ground but I think the imprint is too big for a Red Squirrel.

[pickrel pat]

Originally Posted by KegRiver

Nice photos Dave.

I wonder if anyone has photos of a Prairie Long Tailed Weasel track and measurements of their reach? That might be helpful.

But at least your photos prove what I suspected, it's not a rabbit or a regular Weasel.

I still think it's most likely a Squirrel and I'm thinking it must be a Gray Squirrel because of the size of the imprints.
I've seen Red Squirrel make jumps like that when crossing open ground but I think the imprint is too big for a Red Squirrel.

is there even gray squirrells north of edmonton where the pic was taken? if not weasel family im gonna go with flying squirrell. lots of them around, however you never see them as they are highly nocturnal.

[pickrel pat]

nvm. just googled it. appears their range goes as far west as manitoba.(gray squirrel)

[3blade]

I think Dave has it right. The deeper tracks (the pic without the axe) was a set that had much smaller bounds (moving slower) close to the bush, then widened out and looked exactly like the others in the open. And yeah it was going to & from a wood pile. Trail cam going up tomorrow, hope for the best.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by pickrel pat

is there even gray squirrells north of edmonton where the pic was taken? if not weasel family im gonna go with flying squirrell. lots of them around, however you never see them as they are highly nocturnal.

It's not a flying squirrel.

I've trapped more of them then I ever wanted to, and I never wanted to.

They are much lighter then a Red Squirrel and a bit smaller and they are awkward on the ground.

So how do you catch a flying Squirrel? Most that I caught were caught in snares set for Red Squirrel. And I've caught a few in my Marten boxes.
No one wants to catch them, but they have a taste for raw meat and they like to follow Red Squirrel trails.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by 3blade

I think Dave has it right. The deeper tracks (the pic without the axe) was a set that had much smaller bounds (moving slower) close to the bush, then widened out and looked exactly like the others in the open. And yeah it was going to & from a wood pile. Trail cam going up tomorrow, hope for the best.

That sounds like a Weasel. Like I said, some times an animal leaves tracks that don't look like one would expect.

And with soft snow, tracks can be especially hard to identify.

It could well be a regular Weasel, but a Prairie Long Tailed Weasel is as likely. They do wonder well out of their known territory.
And even though I think the tracks don't look angled enough to be a Weasel, with soft snow it can be hard to tell and they do look angled a bit.

[HunterDave]

Last night I caught the guy that made the tracks in the pictures that I posted above. He's a young male ermine (short tailed weasel) about 13" nose to tail. This'll be my first one caught and skinned. More experience gained for next season!

How hard is it to save the scent glands without stinking the place out?

[Ticdoc]

Do not know what animal made those tracks, but for sure they were not made by a gray squirrel. In Alberta, gray squirrels are only known from city of Calgary (they have both gray and black colour phases), which according to the literature were introduced or escaped from Calgary Zoo and became established years ago.

ticdoc

[jim summit]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

Last night I caught the guy that made the tracks in the pictures that I posted above. He's a young male ermine (short tailed weasel) about 13" nose to tail. This'll be my first one caught and skinned. More experience gained for next season!

How hard is it to save the scent glands without stinking the place out?

Just make the cut mighty carefully.......lol.

It smells up the place even if you don't cut it.

[nube]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

Last night I caught the guy that made the tracks in the pictures that I posted above. He's a young male ermine (short tailed weasel) about 13" nose to tail. This'll be my first one caught and skinned. More experience gained for next season!

How hard is it to save the scent glands without stinking the place out?

WTF DAVE!!!!! Good Job
Now I am ****ed off though. I have had my boxes out all year with all types od lure and meat and caught 3. You walk out the back 40 throw a box out and catch one within a day or 2. What am I doing wrong guys?? I can't catch a weasel if my life depended on it and I have had tracks all over my boxes. I give up

[HunterDave]

Beginners luck, Nube.....lol! I put 4 boxes out yesterday afternoon and I had him when I checked after lunch today. To be honest though, I've been watching his tracks near my bait pile since December so you might say that I've been tracking him for 2 months. I knew where he was routinely coming and going and the box was right there where he came up from under the snow beside a fallen tree that had bare ground under it. A chunk of turkey liver in blood on a clean pickle jar lid sealed the deal. I also put a few drops of blood on the bottom of the hole opening and in the snow at the entrance.

[Red Bullets]

A flying squirrel doesn't travel the open ground in a straight line very much. They are more inbetween trees and maybe to a ground cache. Red and ground squirrels, chipminks and all 3 types of weasels do travel in this pattern. Squirrels will show as 4 prints. front feet wider than rear.

The weasels longer body has more of a bounding lope that show as 2 prints at a time, with one print being slightly forward of the other. Big male longtails can be 22 inches long. Their traveling bound is typically their body length in deeper snow. But if they are on a mission, strides could be further.

So, weasels bound and squirrels gallop.

This you tube video has a running weasel. The second half of the video is slowed down and illustrates how the track is left pretty good.Shows the bounding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V3XXdVaCrc


Found this one on youtube that shows a weasel eating a grouse bait. Pretty good cam footage of a determined weasel. Just thought it was cool to see a weasel at work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEbHz6CsQRw

(I don't know where this was taken but I'm thinking that using whole grouse (game bird) as bait might might be frowned upon legally in Alberta. Feathers and grouse guts are great and legal, [that is if you don't save the innards for grouse gut gravy] )

[Red Bullets]

Originally Posted by nube

WTF DAVE!!!!! Good Job
Now I am ****ed off though. I have had my boxes out all year with all types od lure and meat and caught 3. You walk out the back 40 throw a box out and catch one within a day or 2. What am I doing wrong guys?? I can't catch a weasel if my life depended on it and I have had tracks all over my boxes. I give up

Try making boxes with just a 1 inch hole to get in and put it along a grassy fenceline (I mean even in winter snow. grass is what the rodents use in winter.)
also woodpiles are hotspots.

Play on the curiousity of the weasel. Too open of an entrance lets them see too much. Make their nose and eyes work. Feathers in the wind and grouse innards for bait, or a person could put a couple of mice in the weasel boxes in late fall for a few days. Let the rodents get the box smelling a little mousy.

Might be interesting to build a mouse hotel that holds a few well fed mice in one weasel safe compartment and the lethal weasel trap in the adjoining compartment.

Footnote: Long tail weasels have been sighted in barns up in the rafters catching roosting bats. Ultimate mini predator.

I am really happy and glad weasels they don't grow to cougar size.

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by HunterDave

Last night I caught the guy that made the tracks in the pictures that I posted above. He's a young male ermine (short tailed weasel) about 13" nose to tail. This'll be my first one caught and skinned. More experience gained for next season!

How hard is it to save the scent glands without stinking the place out?

Saving the scent glands without making a stink would be a BIG challenge. It's hard enough to skin them out without making a big stink.

I saved a few over the years but never without paying a price.

The good part is, they don't stink as bad as a Skunk, close but not as bad. And one gets somewhat used to it after a while. Just don't expect too many offers from beautiful women wanting to have you child while you smell like a Weasel.

It is not CHANEL N°5