Tracking Challenge 3: Carnivores

​Authors: Teri Lysak, Tracking Leader with the Wolverine Tracking Project 
and Käthe Steck, Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator

TRACKING CHALLENGE 2:
Carnivores! 
Send us your photos of carnivore tracks and sign!
Winners will be chosen for:
- the clearest carnivore tracks,
-the most unusual carnivore tracks, and
- the most unusual sign!
Challenge Ends: April 19
Send photos to: [email protected]
Or, tag us on social media! #CaWTracks
Send us all your tracking questions and stories, too!

A coyote pauses, captured by a Wolverine Tracking Project wildlife camera on Mt. Hood.

The Pacific Northwest is home to hundreds of species of mammals, just as many birds and amphibians, and even more insects. Getting to know our wild neighbors is as interesting as it is rewarding - however, getting to know each one well can take a lot of time! One thing that wildlife biologists, trackers, and backyard or aspiring naturalists (like you!) can do, is to study groups of similar animals. One of the most important groups of animals that can tell us about the overall health of an ecosystem is carnivores. 

Click Read More below to learn about the importance of carnivores to an ecosystem, and how to learn about their presence through tracks and sign they leave behind...

Carnivores occupy the upper levels of the food pyramid, and for their populations to be healthy, they depend on the health of everyone below them. For example, a coyote is dependent upon the health of the rabbit populations, who are dependent upon the health of the flora in their environment, who are dependent upon soil, air, water, and climate health. A single coyote requires many rabbits (and other prey) to be healthy, and the rabbits in turn need a large amount of healthy flora to flourish. If any one component is out of balance, it may affect the overall health of the ecosystem. This is why a food pyramid is also known as a food web. Carnivores are a key to understanding how well an ecosystem is thriving, which is a large reason why we focus on carnivores in our community science Wolverine Tracking Project. On a personal level, understanding carnivores in your local area can also help you understand the health of your neighborhood, park, or forest, and the roles that each group of animals plays within it. 

The Five Carnivore Families

The word carnivore has two different meanings. Carnivore can refer to an animal's diet, in which case it means an animal that eats meat, differentiating it from an herbivore who eat vegetation, or an omnivore who eats a wide range of both plant and animal food. The other definition is taxonomic.  Members of the order Carnivora are also referred to as carnivores. Carnivora is a formal grouping of animals that in our area includes canine, feline, weasel, bear, raccoon, and skunk families. This dual meaning can lead to confusing statements such as this one, which you will see again below: "Some carnivores (of the order Carnivora) are not very carnivorous (don't eat a lot of meat)!"

Let's look a little closer at the animals that make up this order.

Canines

A coyote, captured by a WTP trail camera, pauses in the snow.

A Sierra Nevada red fox inspects a camera site on Mt. Hood.

The canine family includes coyotes, wolves, foxes, and domestic dogs. Coyotes are one of the most common native carnivores found in the city.

Felines

A mountain lion walks through clearing, WTP trail camera.

A bobcat walks atop the snow by a WTP trail camera.

The feline family contains bobcats, cougars, and house cats.

Weasels

A Pacific marten inspects a camera site.

A weasel pauses for a trail cam.

Animals in the weasel, or mustelid, family all have a long skinny body and short legs. This family contains many species, including otter, mink, marten, long- and short-tailed weasels, and -  our favorite - wolverine.

Bears and Raccoons

A black bear walks through a camera site.

A raccoon investigates the smells at a camera site.

Black bears are the only members of the bear family in NW Oregon; and likewise raccoons in the raccoon family. 

Skunks

A striped skunk, showing off their characteristics stripes.

A spotted skunk, showing off their characteristics spots.

The skunk family was formerly lumped with weasels, but now is separate. There are two species in this family. Spotted skunks are primarily forest dwellers, while striped skunks are more common in more open areas, including the city.

Occasionally, we see these carnivores. But more often, they remain hidden and all we see are the signs that they were here. These signs can result from any of the activities that animals do - eating, resting, traveling, or communicating with others of their kind.  Below are just a few of the more common signs to look for.

Tracks

When their feet land in mud, sand, snow, or other soft substance, animals will leave tracks for us to see. The most commonly seen tracks are from animals that like to use human trails, like coyotes.

Each of the different families has distinctly different track characteristics.
​

• Canine tracks are oval in outline, with four toes in two ranks above a triangular heel pad.
• Feline tracks are round in outline, with four toes evenly arced around a trapezoidal heel pad.
• Weasel tracks have the toes arranged in an arc around the heel pad, but there are five toes and the heel pad is shaped like an upside down U. 
• Bear tracks also show five toes, but the toes in their tracks are arranged in a line above a wide rectangular heel pad, making the track look like a human foot.
• Skunk tracks look a lot like miniature bear tracks.
• Raccoon tracks show long toes, and the tracks resemble small human hands.

Coyote tracks showing the characteristic oval outline, four toes, and triangular heel pad of canine tracks.

Bobcat track showing the round outline and four evenly arced toes around a trapezoidal heel pad characteristic of feline tracks. Photo by Sarah Carl.

Mink tracks showing the arc of five toes around heel pad shaped like an upside down U that is characteristic of weasel family tracks.

A bear track (top) intersects with a human shoe track (bottom). The black bear tracks shows the characteristic five toes arranged in a line above a wide heel pad. A secondary heel pad, which corresponds to the ball of the foot, also shows in this picture.

Skunk tracks, much smaller but similar to bear tracks.

Raccoon tracks in mud showing the long toes on each foot, which resemble human hands.

Feeding Sign

Black bears are one of the least carnivorous members of order Carnivora. They eat berries, roots, insects, green plants, acorns, eggs, carrion, and just about anything else they can put in their mouth, with meat usually making up only about 10% of their diet. Black bears are not especially known for their hunting ability. But they sure do leave a lot of sign as they forage for food. 

Bear feeding sign: a cherry tree that collapsed under the bears weight as it foraged for cherries. Photo by Kimber Nelson.

Bears love fruit, and the cherries in the tree pictured above are no exception. If you've ever tried to harvest wild cherries, you will know that they tend to grow in the top of the tree and your main difficulty is getting to them. In the photo, a bear climbed this bitter cherry tree to get to the fruit, only to have the branches break under its weight. Hopefully it was still able to hold on!

Bears also frequently tear apart dead logs to get to the grubs and other insects living inside, as shown in the below left picture. They also often climb trees, and their claw marks can be seen on smooth barked trees like the aspen in the below right picture.

A log that has been torn apart by a black bear.

The claw marks of a black bear left in the bark of an aspen.

The cat family, at the other extreme, contains the most highly carnivorous animals in this group. They are excellent hunters, and even as kittens or cubs play at stalking and pouncing. Felines will eat small prey whole, but will leave the remains of larger prey for us to find. Identifying the culprit when looking at a partially eaten animal carcass is usually very difficult. This is further complicated by the fact that a single carcass may have been eaten on by many different animals, and it may not have been killed by the same animal doing the most eating. Scavenging (eating animals that are already dead) is common among carnivores.

In the photo below, this deer was likely fed on by a mid size carnivore such as a bobcat. Some clues that indicate this are how the larger bones are all still intact and articulated to the body. A larger carnivore such as a cougar would have cracked more of the bones to get to the fatty marrow inside.  Coyotes will often carry off portions of the carcass a short ways away so that the pack members can feed by themselves.  The bobcat may not have been the only one feeding, however, and probably was not the one who killed this deer since that would be quite an undertaking for an animal that size. 

The carcass of a deer, likely eaten by a midsize carnivore such as a bobcat.

With smaller prey, it is even harder to tell who they've been eaten by. This bird below was killed by something fairly small, since anything large would have just gulped the entire bird down. This was found in a residential area, and judging by the location, this bird was probably killed and partially eaten by a house cat, though we can't say for certain.

The partially eaten carcass of a songbird. Since this bird was not eaten whole, the carnivore in this case was smaller, possibly a house cat.

Scat

Any animal that eats also has to get rid of waste, and looking for scat can be a great way to tell who was around. The shape, size, and contents of the scat are clues as to the maker. The scat of most carnivores in tubular in shape, as opposed the pellets of most herbivores. Scat from a meat diet will contain hair and bones; scat from the entirely green-plant-based diet of an herbivore will be a homogeneous greenish brown.  

To distinguish between the carnivores, look closer at the shape and at the size. Canine scat will often have very tapered ends and be twisted. Feline scat will be blunt on the ends, less twisted, and often segmented. Weasel scat will be very twisted, often double back on itself, and will have a small diameter.  Bear scat can usually be distinguished by its quantity. When not a large, nondescript pile of digested berries, bear scat has blunt ends, is smooth, and large in diameter - the Lincoln logs of the woods.  

Coyote scat showing very tapered ends and a twisted look.

Weasel scat showing a very twisted look, highly tapered ends, and a small diameter.

Bobcat scat showing more blunt ends and segmentation.

Bear scat showing very blunt ends and a large diameter.

Scat is something Wolverine Tracking Project volunteers look at a lot because it can be used to obtain DNA samples. ​If you want more information on how to identify scat, please come to one of our trainings! We would love to have you!

Communication Sign

All mammals need to communicate with others of their own kind. Much communication is through smell. Animals secrete pheromones from various glands on their body that can inform the recipient of the sender's gender, age, health, social status, and sometimes even which individual it is. Often, this scent is left in conjunction with some sort of visual sign as well.

Bears can leave some of the most obvious visual communication sign. They will bite, claw, and rub on the trunks of trees, often they use the same tree repeatedly. They seem to like to mark things that stand out visually, such as the handy trail sign pictured below.

Bear sign on a forest trail sign.

Bear sign on a tree trunk.

Canines and felines communicate with their scat and urine, secreting pheromones along with the waste material. Sometimes they also mark their scat location with a scrape in the ground, depositing secretions from glands in the feet as well as visually enhancing the scat. With felines, these scrapes are very tidy and rectangular. With canines, the dirt is scattered and the shape amorphous. Those of you with dogs or cats at home may be familiar with this already!

Bobcat scrape and scat. Photo from Paul Halliday.

Animal Parts

Death is as much a part of the natural cycle as life. Finding old bones slowly decomposing back to dirt is an obvious sign that an animal once lived here. And, hopefully, also a sign that their offspring are here still!

The rear leg (above) and skull (below) of a raccoon, found near Leach Botanical Gardens.

Sign of carnivores can be exciting to find. We hope this post inspires you to start searching and guides you in what to look for.

As always, send us your photos, any questions, and your stories as you head out and explore. 
See our other posts for guide recommendations and some tips on where to look! 
​
Happy tracking!