Even if you are not a hunter or wildlife researcher, animal tracks can quickly turn into a hobby. After all, tracks can leave evidence of who was around. Advanced knowledge of gait can tell you how the animal was moving: running, walking, standing still. This guide is for basic animal tracking in North Carolina, particularly in the Triad/Piedmont areas. For as many animals as possible, I'll use my own photos from my own tracking experiences. However, if I don't have good enough quality photos, I'll use others' images (and credit them).
Substrate Matters
Substrate is the material upon which the tracks rest. This can be sand, mud, dirt, grass, anything. Substrate matters because it can affect how tracks are viewed. Mud, for example, can splay out the toes of animals and/or make the track seem bigger than normal. Sand can trick you into thinking a track doesn't have claws. Always keep in mind the material you're dealing with.
Basic Track Vocabulary
Metacarpal pad- Basically, the palm of the track.
Lobe- These are divets on the bottom of the metacarpal pad (so near the "wrist").
Lobe- These are divets on the bottom of the metacarpal pad (so near the "wrist").
Step 1: Count the toes
How do you narrow down the tracks? I start by counting the number of toes on the track. Here's a handy chart, and I'll go through the animals in order based off the list.
2 TOES:
2 TOES:
- Nine-banded armadillo (front paw)
- White tail deer
- Nine-banded armadillo (rear paw) (armadillos are weird; you won't miss them)
- Canines (eastern coyote, red fox, gray fox)
- Felines (bobcat)
- Northern raccoon
- Virginia opossum
- Striped skunk
- American black bear
Nine banded Armadillo
- Toes: 2 toes (front); 3 toes (back)
- Do claws register? Kind of
If you're thinking "we have armadillos in North Carolina?!", then you were just like me awhile ago. But yes, these little guys have started to make their way through the states. They are still pretty uncommon in the Triad, and you aren't likely to come across their tracks unless you're out hiking.
Armadillos are solitary, and mostly eat insects by burrowing their large snout into the ground. I'll just say it now, their tracks are BIZARRE. They are pretty hard to mix up with anything else. Technically, armadillos have five toes, but usually only 2 on the front paw and 3 on the back paw register in their tracks. The tracks are roughly 2 inches up-down.
Armadillos are solitary, and mostly eat insects by burrowing their large snout into the ground. I'll just say it now, their tracks are BIZARRE. They are pretty hard to mix up with anything else. Technically, armadillos have five toes, but usually only 2 on the front paw and 3 on the back paw register in their tracks. The tracks are roughly 2 inches up-down.
WHITE TAIL DEER
- Toes: 2 toes
- Do claws register? N/A
White tail deer, along with raccoon, are easily the most abundant tracks I see. I see them so often, I didn't have any photos readily available on my phone because I don't have much interest as far as my research goes. However, deer runs are valuable to me as predators like coyotes will often walk perpendicular to prey animals.
Like armadillo tracks, white tail deer tracks are very easy to identify. They compose of the cloven hoof. Sometimes, in deep substrate like mud, the dewclaws of the deer may register (this will look like one small dot behind each of the two "toes").
Like armadillo tracks, white tail deer tracks are very easy to identify. They compose of the cloven hoof. Sometimes, in deep substrate like mud, the dewclaws of the deer may register (this will look like one small dot behind each of the two "toes").
EASTERN COYOTE
- Toes: 4 toes
- Do claws register? Yes.
Obviously, eastern coyote tracks are the center of my affection. But differentiating them from foxes and domestic dogs is sometimes tricky. To differentiate coyote tracks from foxes, size matters. Eastern coyote tracks range from 2.75" to 3.5", while foxes don't get larger than 2.25". To differentiate from dog tracks, I use two rules: trail pattern and direct registration. Coyotes, who need to conserve energy, generally travel in straight lines. Domestic dogs, who don't need to conserve energy, tend to run every which way. Coyotes, when walking, often walk with the rear foot directly in front of the front foot. This is demonstrated in the above photo and is called direct registration. Domestic dogs typically don't do this.
Red Fox
- Toes: 4 toes
- Do claws register? Yes.
Sometimes, the only way to differentiate red fox and coyote tracks is size. Red fox prints usually are not larger than 2". The tracks may be a bit rounder than In the winter especially, red fox prints may contain bits of fur, as their paws are quite fluffy. Red foxes are common visitors to suburban yards, and may select a bush under which to rest for the day. Sometimes, red foxes even choose to build their dens under peoples' porches!
Gray Fox
- Toes: 4 toes
- Do claws register? Occasionally.
Gray fox tracks are teeny, usually no more than 1.5 inches. Quite a bit smaller than a red fox, which can be 15-16 pounds, gray foxes are only occasionally larger than 9 pounds. Gray foxes can actually climb thanks to specialized claws that are semi-retractable. This means that occasionally, their tracks register claws, a trait that is unusual for a canid and typical for a felid. Gray fox tracks are more oval-shaped than domestic cat tracks, with only two lobes on the metacarpal pad instead of three.
BOBCAT
- Toes: 4 toes
- Do claws register? No.
Bobcats, like most felids, can retract their claws. This means they do not register on most tracks. The exception is when they may be walking in extremely thick mud or stalking. Bobcat sightings are growing more frequent in North Carolina, with reports even in the areas surrounding Charlotte. They are elusive, even more so than coyotes, and are about twice the size of a domestic cat. Bobcat tracks are about 2-2.5" wide, while domestic/feral cat tracks are about 1-1.5" wide. Bobcats are often found in wetlands.
Northern Raccoon
- Toes: 5 toes
- Do claws register? Usually.
Raccoons and deer are easily the most common tracks I find, and it's a trend pretty much in all of North Carolina. Raccoon tracks are easily identifiable because their front paws look like "baby hands". Unlike opossum front tracks, in which the thumb juts out to the side, raccoon thumbs lie straight up and down. Raccoon tracks are extremely common along waterways like creeks and rivers.
Virginia Opossum
- Toes: 5 toes
- Do claws register? Yes.
Opossums are the only marsupial in North America; they also have the most teeth (50) out of any mammal. What are these teeth used for? Threat displays to scare away danger. While the front paws of opossums and raccoons may look similar (like hands), there's an important distinction: opossum thumbs stick out, while raccoon thumbs are straight up. This is much more obvious in the hind paws.
Striped Skunk
- Toes: 5 toes
- Do claws register? Yes.
I actually haven't had too much experience with skunk tracks; for some reason, the main area of my woods where I track the most is essentially devoid of skunks. The "fingers" of their front tracks are often partially fused together, and are rather cylindrical. The middle three claws also register a bit above the main part of the print, so they are easy to pick out. If you are still confused about the difference between these three medium mammals' prints, see this handy visual below:
American Black Bear
- Toes: 5 toes
- Do claws register? Yes.
The Triad/Piedmont area of North Carolina is not home to black bears (although some sightings do occur when young males are kicked out of mom's territory and wander through the area in the summer to find new territory), but they are prevalent in the mountains and parts of the coast. Black bear tracks cannot be mistaken for anything else due to their sheer size.
Other Tracks You May See
Putting it All Together
Once you learn basic tracks, you can tell a lot about who is maneuvering your neighborhood. That's when it gets fun: you can follow tracks to places where the animal has grazed or fed, bedded down or run. You can see which kinds of animals use the same paths to travel, even animals that you think may not want to be close to one another, like bobcats and coyotes.