February 6, 2012

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Muskrats

The Muskrat is one of the easiest animal tracks to identify if you know what to look for. Muskrats live in and around the water and leave their tell tail tracks and sign to let us know they are around.

Muskrats have a long thick tail that drags behind them as they walk. The tail drag will show in mud or snow and is a sure give away of a Muskrats presence.  Their front foot has four toes and will measure right around 1 1/2 inches long while their back foot measures 2 to 2 1/2 inches long and has five toes.  Any time you see a set of tracks along a waterway with a thin line between them you can be pretty certain you found a Muskrat.   

Another tell tale sign of a Muskrat is their Scat. Muskrats deposit their scat on logs, stumps or rocks in or near the waters edge. You will always find them on an elevated surface. Their scat is pellet shaped when fresh but as it ages it begins to sort of melt together to form one large mass. Muskrats will often use the same site to deposit their scat in and you will find varying ages of scat like the ones in the picture above.

If you haven’t tried out the MyNature Animal Track  app yet look us up on the Droid or iPhone we now have a free  lite version. Not as good as the pro version but there is a demo in there to see what the full version contains.

Happy Tracking !!

Identifying Skunk Tracks

Most people have smelled a skunk,  there’s no mistaking the odor but would you recognize a skunk’s track if you saw one?  Skunks have five toes on both their fore and hind foot  they actually resemble a miniature bear track.  The front track will measure from 1 to just over 1 1/2 inches long and the hind track will be just a bit longer measuring around 1 3/4 to 2 inches long. They have long sharp claws for digging and the claws will almost always register in their tracks. Skunks most often utilize a pacing gait where all four feet will register in the trail they leave.  If you happen to come upon fresh tracks and follow them just remember to keep a safe distance if they lead you to their owner, skunks can spray up to 15 feet  and can spray very accurately up to 10 feet.

                                                                      Happy Tracking !!

Animal Tracks Lite Version for Android

Were pleased to announce that there is now a lite version of the MyNature Animal Track app available for Android phones. In this free version you will be able to view the tracks of 48 animals commonly found across North America. Both fore and hind tracks are illustrated with a complete description of the track and animal itself. We left one search feature live for members of the cat family so you will be able to see how the  pro version functions. Whichever version you use enjoy your time with Nature and leave no trace.  Happy Hiking!!

Interesting Animal Facts

Here’s a few animal facts that you may find interesting and useful sometime in your travels.

  • A bears big toe is on the outside of it’s foot unlike humans which is on the inside.
  • If a buck deer is injured on one side of it’s body the opposite side antler will grow abnormally.
  • Gray Fox are the only members of the Canine family that have retractable claws.
  • Frogs have a type of anti-freeze in their blood that keep them from freezing solid in the winter.
  • Male porcupines will urinate on the female before mating.
  • Groundhogs have a separate chamber in their tunnel system to defecate in. Their scat is seldom found outside of their den.
  • Beavers almost always defecate in the water.
  • Most animals deposit their scat on a raised object such as a log or rock to advertise their presence and mark their territory.
  • Raccoon scat can be deadly to humans if inhaled.
  • One Red Squirrel can eat up to 50 pine cones per day.
  • The Opossum is the only marsupial in North America
  • The favorite food of the Grizzly Bear is the White Pine Nut
  • A Grizzly Bear can go from zero to 25 MPH in 6 seconds
  • A Pronghorn Antelope can reach speeds of 60 MPH.
  • Snowshoe Hare populations peak every 10 years.  This was the 10th year of the 10 year cycle in the Adirondacks!
  • The Raccoon is the most ambidextrous animal in North America. They also dip their food in water to make it easier to swallow.

Android Animal Track App

We are pleased to announce that the MyNatureAnimal Track app is now available on Android phones.  A complete version of Tracks and Scat should be available on the Blackberry in the coming months.  We are still supporting the National Wildlife Federations efforts to help wildlife affected by the Gulf Oil Spill and will be including sales from the Droid version as well. Each app purchased in May from Itunes or the Droid store we will be donating $1.00 to NWF. Please help wildlife today from the environmental disaster and spread the word of our May fund drive. You’ll not only be helping wildlife but you’ll have a chance to learn a thing or two about Nature at the same time with our app.

Happy Hiking !

Help Gulf Coast Wildlife

Last night I had retweeded a friends post on Twitter “RE Needed:Volunteers to help save animals along Gulf coast! http://tinyurl.com/2eqh6wv by me, a VIP”  I turned to my wife and said I want to go help rescue wildlife from the oil spill. I knew her response even before I asked  “You can’t, you have to work we’ve got bills to pay”  Of course she’s right, after being out of work so long I can’t just drop everything even though it would mean a lot to me to be able to help out. Here was a chance to help Nature, to give back to something that has given me countless hours of enjoyment for so many years.

I got the idea this morning when I saw a tweet by the National WildlifeFederation, I could still do something financially. For the month of May I will personally donate $1.00 of every download of our app to NWF to help with the rescue of animals affected by the oil spill in the Gulf Coast.   It may not add up to a lot by the end of the month but it will be something and something always help.  The money will go to a very worthy cause and at the same time you’ll be learning about Nature, that seems to me like a win win situation all around.   Thanks for stopping by and as always Happy Tracking.