Tracking Challenge #1 Winners!

For our first Tracking Challenge, we asked for your most clear and your most unusual photos of tracks left by any animal, even if you didn't know who left them. We asked, and you delivered! You've submitted some excellent photos. Without much further adieu, we announce:

THE Winners 
Tracking challenge 1: 
​Distinct and unique

category 1: Distinct Tracks

The Clear Winner

The winner for the most clear tracks goes to Instagram user @buttsuponatime who captured this amazing series of tracks outside their back door after the last snowstorm:

Any guesses on who these tracks belong to? 

Click "Read More" below to find out and to see the rest of the winners!

@buttsuponatime didn't have to do too much guessing, because the next moment, the 'culprit' revealed themselves:

Followed these tracks in the yard to see what this guy might’ve been up to in the night, he decided to show up and follow me inside ❄️ 🐈‍⬛ 😂 - @buttsuponatime

Beautiful tracks, and a beautiful cat!
See the original post on Instagram.

WTP Winner

Volunteers with the Wolverine Tracking Project spend a lot of time on Mt. Hood checking wildlife trail cameras and going out on tracking surveys. They see a lot of great track and sign on the mountain and in the national forest, and so we have a separate category to celebrate their findings, too! 

The award for most clear tracks found on the mountain goes to Carlene Blaich, a long time member or our camera crew and tracking teams. Carlene captured these photos of a set of prints left by a snowshoe hare.

Snowshoe hare is by far the most common wildlife detected on our winter tracking surveys, seconded only by tree squirrels. Although we get to see a lot of their tracks, it is very rare for conditions to be good enough for tracks this clear. Another reason we rarely get to see tracks this clear is because snowshoe hare have very heavily furred feet to protect them from the cold. Those large feet on the right of the set of prints are the hind feet of the hare - you can see how they resemble snowshoes. In this photo you can clearly see each and every one of the hare's toes! 

Honorable Mention

While these tracks don't come from your "typical" backyard, they are nonetheless some of the clearest tracks we have ever seen left by marten. These were captured by Kurt Zias at the Salt Creek Summit Sno Park in the Wallowa Mountains.

These are probably the clearest marten tracks I’ve ever seen. Typically the snow is too deep, melted out, etc. to make out details but these were near perfect! - Kurt Zias

Marten live in upper elevation, mature conifer forests. On Mt. Hood, marten are one of the target species of the Wolverine Tracking Project camera and tracking surveys. We have gotten to document many marten tracks over the years, and we could not believe, or resist, sharing these wonderful photos! 

Category 2: unique Tracks

The Unusual Winner

Another submission from Kurt Zias wins for the most unusual tracks found! ​These tracks belong to an owl, likely a western screech owl. These tracks are so unusual because it is very rare to see owl tracks!

I’m feeling pretty confident these were western screech owl tracks, based on size and habitat. The owl landed on the ground multiple times, walking and hopping around near mouse trails. Unfortunately, I did not find any evidence of a mouse predation. It was still cool to see evidence of this little guy. - Kurt Zias

​We wholeheartedly agree! These tracks were found in Zumwalt Prairie near Enterprise, Oregon.

WTP Winner

The next tracks are some we rarely get to see in winter. These tracks were found by Tracking Leaders John Lehne and Heidi Perry while checking one of our cameras at Tilly Jane. In late January, it is very unusual to get to see the tracks of black bear!

Such a good tracking day! No tracks in the near vicinity of the camera, but so many along the trail! All the usual suspects - squirrel, snowshoe hare, weasel, mouse/vole (bounds & even a diagonal walker), several coyote (including two traveling together), and, unbelievably, a BEAR!!! What is the bear doing awake in the middle of winter? - Heidi Perry

What is the bear doing awake in the middle of winter? Bears, skunks, and raccoons don't hibernate the same way as other animals, like ground squirrels, do. Instead of going into a very deep sleep, they instead go into a state called torpor. Unlike other hibernators that need to wake up and eat, make waste, and move their muscles a bit, bears can stay in torpor for up to 100 days without waking. Or, they can also easily wake up from torpor when the conditions are right. We've had a warmer winter, and during warmer spells when food may be more available, an opportunistic bear can wake from their torpor hibernation, or hibernation can be delayed altogether. Anything for a winter snack!

Honorable Mention

What's the next best thing to seeing tracks or sign from unusual wildlife? Seeing the unusual wildlife themselves! Our honorable mention for this category goes to Ray Anderson and Kathleen Baker for their backyard sighting of this bobcat!

...We were astonished to find a bobcat in our backyard in the middle of the day last week. No game camera needed – we took these pictures out our back door. We live on the outskirts of Portland adjacent to Forest Park. We feed the birds (and by extension, the squirrels, and chipmunks) in our backyard and the bobcat must have been hunting. It hung around for a couple minutes while we took pictures before disappearing like a ghost when we glanced away for a moment. It cruised back through the yard again this morning so it may have a den nearby. To give you some perspective, the masonry block behind the cat is 16” long so it looks like the cat might be ~24” not including the tail. We’re guessing 30-40 lbs. - Ray Anderson

That is quite the ecosystem you are helping to support, Ray and Kathleen! Bobcats, often nocturnal, are elusive by nature. However, during the winter when food is more scarce, they may be active during different times of day and may be so bold as to show themselves to humans. What an awesome sighting! 

Submissions

The above winners are just six of many more excellent submissions that were sent to us. Please check out the slideshow below for other great documentations of tracks and even some more wildlife sightings! 

Thank you to all who joined us for our first ever Tracking Challenge!

And stay tuned for Tracking Challenge 2!
​Hint: It's going to get SQUIRRELY