About The River

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Winter Tracks



 My husband and I purchased snowshoes for each other for Christmas. We do enjoy cross country skiing, but we are not able to adventure in some areas with skis. 
We have really enjoyed snowshoeing. 
It has become a new favorite!

During one of our snowshoe adventures we came across the following tracks.
Tracks we had not seen before .. what animal could be passing by?


When taking photos of the tracks be sure to place something next to the track to determine the size of the track. Also take a photo of the gait (the walk) of the animal if you are able. This will help when you start your research on who made that track. 



 Could it be a Badger?


It would be something if it was a Wolverine!
 


It is a Fisher.

The message below my husband sent to the Wisconsin DNR. 
My husband received a nice reply back from Curtis he did confirm the track was a Fisher and that it was a unique track to see.
 
 
Hi Curtis,
My wife and I found this track on Monday Feb 4. We were snowshoeing at a Barron County park by Prairie Lake. Whatever animal it is from was following our tracks from Friday Feb 1. We had some rain and melting over the weekend which may have distorted the track.
In the photos I have attached the basket of my pole is 3.5" diameter, for scale. Looking at various track books and online I think it may be a wolverine track.
If there is any insight you may have I would be interested.
 
A shout out to one of our dear blog friends Lavender Dreamer, who shares her hikes , photos of birds, plants and animals with us. She had a crazy weekend with Google.
 

17 comments:

  1. How cool is that? And I love that you guys came home and investigated. We would do the same thing, we're big fans of nature mysteries.

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  2. How exciting is that!
    I love to snowshoe and get out in nature, though we have been warned of the mountain lions in our area. There has been a real problem with mountain lions attacking dogs, so I have to be so careful with Donatella, our Beagle. She is not allowed to go out without her leash unfortunatly.
    Enjoy the time you have to use your new snowshoes ♡

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  3. That is pretty cool to find out what animal left those tracks. I'm so glad that you are enjoying snowshoeing. My sister does snowshoeing and she also enjoy it a lot. She goes with a group of people.

    Hugs, Julia

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  4. Wow, this is totally cool! I know what a Fisher is, too, having seen a nature show about them not long ago. They are not too prevalent. What fun to have this book and go looking for tracks.

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  5. Amazing. So impressed by how you investigated it and solved the mystery.
    Amalia
    xo

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  6. That is so interesting. We used to see weasels in Georgia. And in Indiana we see raccoons often

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  7. Glad you identified the mystery creature and that you're enjoying your snowshoes. I read about Lavender Dreamer. What a nightmare!

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  8. How amazing to see something so unusual and be able to identify the track. When I lived in the mts of NC, I went trackin' after a snow and that was the most fun. I saw more bird tracks than anything else! Thanks for letting our blog friends know what's happened to me. I hope it's over and never happens to any of us again! I'm back to happy blogging....well, starting tomorrow! Sweet hugs, Diane

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  9. Hello sweet friend. I love that you are so adventurous and love to explore and find out about the tracks. How fun you could find out what was in the path before you. I read about Lavender Dreamer's problems and that is pretty scary to think your blog could just disappear like that.
    Have a good week.
    Hugs,
    Kris

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  10. Oh, what fun to find tracks in the snow :) My husband and son enjoy looking for tracks here in the mountains...my son would have been tickled pink to see these tracks with you :)

    Happy day to you, my friend! Hugs

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  11. Those tracks are so cool!! I've never heard of a fisher and I thought a wolverine was only in the X-men movies! ;-) So cool. I'm sure if I walked into the sporting goods store down here in Texas and asked for "snow shoes", they would look at me like I had corn growing out of my head...LOL No such thing down here. Love and hugs sweet friend!

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  12. That is so cool! I've never heard of a fisher either! Your snowshoeing adventures sound like fun! I can't wait for more! No snow here!

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  13. Hi friend- glad it was only the tracks you saw! We have them here and you can hear them at night sometimes. They sound like someone screaming. YouTube what they sound like. It’s really interesting. They are vicious and indiscriminate about attacking, I think they are more nocturnal?. I am grateful to only hear them occasionally. Stay safe- love your adventures. Eleni from Fieldsofbasil

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  14. I'm so glad your are enjoying your Christmas gifts. That is so much fun with the tracks you found.

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  15. So cool! I am always curious about the tracks I find in the winter, they are usually so crisp and clear. I didn't know that there were books to help with identification, I need check into this. And.. I have never heard of a Fisher. Thank you for sharing this!
    So sorry for your friend to go through that with Google.

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  16. Very interesting, you have wildlife we don't have in New Zealand.

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High Fives from Wisconsin!