Featured in In the Daily Buzz - Jan 06, 2011
Carla Ahern - tewardship and Communications Manager - Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area

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It is really quite fun to play detective in the winter, to look for clues and try to determine what happened in that very spot only hours or days before. A fresh dusting of snow provides the ideal environment to do your detective work. Animal tracks can be seen crisscrossing the landscape in the new powder. Being able to determine who left the tracks and what they were doing is an art.
Determining who left the tracks is the more scientific part of the puzzle. My first suggestion would be to get an identification book for tracks – one that covers our area. Lone Pine Publishing puts out small, inexpensive pocket books on tracks of Western Canada and B.C. which are a good starting point.
Snow conditions and the freshness of the tracks both play a critical role in trying to determine who left the evidence.

Once you have an idea of who might have been frolicking around, I like to let my imagination take over and try to put together a tale of what went on. When you have multiple tracks from different animals, the stories get better and better.

After one of our first snowfalls I saw tracks in the snow around the Wildlife Centre going from a pond, across the trail to a channel. The track was thin; no feet marks, just a long, winding indentation in the snow. It looked very much like a snake slithering along, and if it was, wow, that must have been a slow slither!

Snakes do hibernate in the winter, but if a day is sunny and warm there is a chance, especially in the fall, that they will move about.

Aside from tracks, one can look for evidence of chewing, scratching, rubbing and shredding (sounds dangerous) of trees. Starting in the late summer and early fall, male deer and elk will rub their antlers on trees to remove the velvet that has been growing on them throughout the summer.

Rubbing intensifies in the fall rut season when they are trying to find a mate. They rub to mark their territory, show their dominance and intimidate other males. And in late winter, rubbing is done to help them shed their antlers.

Moose, elk and deer will browse on shrubs such as willow and dogwood as a source of food in the winter. The tips of the branches will look mutilated and shredded due to the gnawing done by their dull teeth. Did you know that elk are the only North American animals that have teeth made of ivory?
If an animal is out and about in our winter wonderland, they will be eating and therefore leaving behind evidence. So be on the lookout for scat. There are also identification books to help you determine who left behind the present. This is not the most glamorous form of detective work but it will nonetheless provide you with more clues as to who has been hanging around.

Above all, have fun. And let us know what you find out there by dropping us an e-mail at askus@crestonwildlife.ca or by joining us on our Facebook page.

Carla Ahern is the director of communications, stewardship and education at the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area. She is learning to like winter and does own snowshoes and skis – and many pairs of thermal underwear. For questions or comments, contact her at cahern@crestonwildlife.ca or 250-402-6905.

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