Join me on a journey to become a nature detective! Typically, when people go for a walk and are looking for wildlife, they may walk past the signs and clues that wildlife have left behind. Get your detective skills ready to learn what markings and evidence creatures leave behind.
So this first picture looks like the marsh is empty and you don’t see any birds or wildlife, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not there.
In this picture is the Beaver Lodge, and even though you can’t see the beavers, they are cozy in their little home. The next thing you may notice are the pathways cutting through the aquatic plants, showing where the animals have been swimming.
This Western Redcedar has bear claws going up from the bottom of the tree, far up its trunk. This shows that a bear has climbed up the tree
This next one is a bear paw print, which was connected to a set of tracks that I saw going from the marsh to this log it walked over and then on to the pathway
This picture shows bird footprints along the edge of the marsh of many different species.
These holes are created by a Red-breasted Sapsucker. Sapsuckers create lines in trees that then fill up with sap and insects get stuck in that sap and become a tasty bird snack.
A Pileated Woodpecker made cavities in these trees and you can tell that because of their signature rectangular shape. There might even be someone home inside that tree cavity.
This abandoned web was created by an orb weaver spider.
These crew marks on the maple leaves are from an insect such as a caterpillar.
Lastly, when we think of animals, we typically exclude ourselves from the picture. However, we are animals, and the roots and rocks have been smoothed down by humans using this path.
So I invite you to take a closer look with your detective skills the next time you go out for a walk in nature and see what has been left behind by the other Park visitors and residents.