Helpful hints for identifying common animal tracks

Wild animals leave a "signature" behind them in sand, in snow, on wet soil or parched earth, as they walk, run, hop, scuttle and slither, and each one can be read when you know how.

• When studying an animal trail, think about what species are local to the terrain.
• In your own back garden that might be a fox, rabbit, mouse, vole or a tomcat on the prowl.
• However, streams, forests, deserts, swamps, prairie, jungle, marsh and mountain will all yield different clues.
• Within most landscapes there are wildlife hotspots in which many species congregate — near water, for example, or beneath a hedge.
• These provide rich pickings for the tracker, whether they are spotting out of curiosity or looking for signs that there are dangerous predators nearby.

• Close to home, look for dog or cat prints.
• Dogs and cats walk on tiptoes, so only the central pad and the four toes leave an imprint.
• Many mysterious big-cat prints are traced back to dogs, who zigzag, while cats walk in a straight line.
• A fox track is like a dog's, but more compact, with the outer digits curving inwards.
• While a dog will romp through mud, a fox will pick its way around the wet and dirt.
• Dogs, foxes and other canines leave triangular claw marks.

• A small print with four toes at the fore and five on the hind foot tells you that a rodent has passed by — a mouse, vole, chipmunk or squirrel, for example.
• Count five toes on both front and (smaller) back feet, and you're on the trail of a raccoon (the prints look like tiny human hand and footprints), or a weasel or a member of its family — badger, mink, otter, skunk, beaver, opossum or even a bear.
• Unusually, an otter pad is almost round.

• Hooved animals — horse, deer, sheep, cows and moose — also tiptoe.
• Most recognizable is the print of a solid-hoofed horse, with its rounded fore hoof and more pointed hind.
• Cattle, like deer, are cloven-hoofed.

Keep referring to this guide until you can identify tracks by sight. Now it's time to get outside and start looking for prints!