Pelts, Skulls, Tracks, Scat

Wildlife Judging mammals

Size

When looking at skulls, there are a few areas to really focus on: Eye Placement, Teeth, and Size.Eye placement: Eyes facing front, animal hunts. Eyes facing side, animal hides.Teeth: look at incisors and molars, are they smooth and used for cutting and grinding plants or more pointed and used for tearing meat.Size: the size of the skull is relative to the animal.

Compare these 2 skulls.

The skull on the left, the eyes are to the side, the incisors are flatter and the molars are more square, and the skull is 3 inches long. This skull tells us the animal hides or is prey, also the animal is a herbivore and small.

The skull on the right, the eyes are facing forward, the incisors are more pointed and the molars are more pointed, and the skull is almost 7 inches long. This skull tells us the animal is a predator, a carnivore and large.

The skull on the left is eastern cottontail and the skull on the right is a coyote.

Compare these tracks.

The track on the left has webbing between the toes and tells us the animal lives in water.

The track on the right has well defined toes and tells us animal is more suited for climbing.

Compare the scat. Scat is another name for animal waste or droppings.

The scat on the left is more rounded and pelleted, that tells us the animal’s diet is primarily plants. So the animal is a herbivore.

The scat on the right is longer and not clearly any shape. It looks more like dog poop. This tells us the animal’s diet is primarily meat with some plants. So the animal is a carnivore or omnivore.

The scat on the left is eastern cottontail. The scat on the right is fox.

American beaver

bobcat

common muskrat

coyote

eastern cottontail

eastern fox squirrel

eastern gray squirrel

gray fox

mink

raccoon

river otter

white-tailed deer