Animals leave evidence in the snow such as burrows, droppings, fur or feathers, food litter, and of course their tracks. Tracks can also tell us a story about where the animal traveled from and where they went to. It may also give us clues about where the animal makes its home in the cold winter months and how active it is on particular days.
Animal tracks can be the basis for several types of investigations.
Identifying the tracks that you and your students find will help fill in a species list of those animals found in your school yard area. Wildlife population estimates can be made from observing the number of tracks found during a specific length of time. Habitat requirements of individuals can be determined by finding their tracks in certain areas and not finding them in others. Track hunting is really very easy. Just look in the snow near or under a brushy area or search a wooded area to find tracks of small animals.