One of my favourite things about winter tracking is coming across a wildlife intersection: a spot used by a variety of animals. Often intersections are associated with a stream, spring or – as was the case here – pond. This particular hotspot is within the city limits of Charlottetown.
There’s a lot going on here, but it didn’t all happen at once. First on scene was the Red Fox: its tracks are the oldest and are underneath those made by the Domestic Dog. If you look carefully, you can see the Fox tracks are in linear groups of four (examples circled), which tells us this animal was running; walking and trotting gaits leave very different tracks from these. The pattern also tells us its direction was towards the top of the photo.
Next came a Human on snowshoes and a Dog (not me and my guys!). I can’t say for sure they were together, but it’s a reasonable guess and both tracks were made in roughly the same timeframe. Lastly came two Mink: their tracks are on top of all the others, and both are heading in the same direction: towards the upper left of the photo, then circling right towards the Muskrat lodge.
Mink have a distinctive 2x2 gait when moving across open areas like this one. Their front feet move together, landing slightly offset. Hind feet follow, landing in the tracks made by the front feet. A tail drag is often visible, as seen here. The result is this pattern of regular, paired imprints on the same diagonal along the trail. (Weasels leave the same pattern, but their tracks are much smaller, and it would be unusual to see them crossing a pond).
So, what makes this area so attractive? A good arrangement of food, water, and cover. The pond itself provides the freshwater that all wildlife needs: there’s open water just to the right of this photo, as well as a stream flowing into and out of the pond.
Cattails in the pond provide food and cover for Muskrats, who eat the roots, stems, and leaves as well as use Cattails to build their winter houses. Muskrats, in turn, are food for Mink. This small pond is also surrounded by fields and hedgerows with lots of Meadow Vole and Snowshoe Hare tracks, animals that are regular menu items for both Mink and Fox.
In addition to all this food, the forested zone along the stream provides both Mink and Fox with denning sites and cover, and the nearby suburban landscape provides additional denning sites for Fox. All of this food, water, and cover are along a well-used snowshoe trail, hence the Human and Dog.
This wildlife intersection isn’t unique, and thousands of similar scenes can be found across PEI. When we pass through these areas in spring, summer, and fall we may notice local birds, but winter reveals the otherwise hidden comings and goings of PEI Untamed!
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