Animal Signs

Winter animal signs are all around when we stop and really observe.

If you are planning your backyard habitat you can use this list to make an inventory of whatcreatures live around you.

This list can also serve as nature journal prompts when you need a little help as to what tolook for.

It also makes a good nature scavenger hunt to use as a nature activity with kids.

Even though this list of animal signs is geared to the colder months, it can be used just about any time of year.



What to look for...

• Young trees with bark rubbed off in autumn by a buck deer polishing his antlers

• A large stick nest high in an oak tree, which maybe home to a great-horned owl or red-tailed hawk

• A large leafy nest that maybe belong to a fox or squirrel

• Holes in dead trees that maybe home to cavity-nesting birds such as chickadees or woodpeckers

• Furry pellets or hairballs regurgitated by an owl

• Runaways through a field of grass made by small rodents

• Black walnuts cracked in half by fox or gray squirrels

• Pine cone eat clean by squirrels

• Porcupine droppings (they are orange) at the base of a tree.

• Hickory nuts nibbled on the edges by deer mice

• A mud nest under a house or barn eve made by cliff or barn swallows

• Last year's bird nests

• Scattered feathers or fur from a predator's meal

• Tracks or droppings created by mammals and birds

• Hoof or paw prints in the mud or snow

• Burrows and dens in the side of a hill

• The persistent smell of skunk

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