I took the advantage of the fresh snow to get some information about what kind of crepuscular/nocturnal creatures could be lurking around my home – human and non-human!

It was fascinating to get a glimpse of last night’s activities, most of which seemed to have happened behind bushes, sheds, and lead to and from the nearby railway embankment…A fox track is supposed to be very dog-like, but far more compact and oval in shape. The print has four digits with the outer two curved towards the inner ones. I think these may qualify?I found other tracks much harder to read. Some indentations were simply airholes, other shapes caused by seeds and twigs..an intriguing record of the last night’s activities. What did these two similar shaped marks signify, for example (about the size of my palm) ? I took one trail to be a cat, which suddenly seemed to do the splits as it turned a corner….Obviously it hadn’t, it must have been a convergence of two cats, which had then gone their separate ways. There were a lot of markings at this meeting point, one set of which which really puzzled me. Any guidance much appreciated!

Could this be a complete track with large kidney shaped pad and two claws in front? If so it doesn’t match any animal round here I can think of. Or is it more likely, two tracks combined – the pad of an unknown larger mammal and the ‘claws’ the feet of a bird?

In which case, perhaps it was being hunted. But I couldn’t find any feathers or blood anywhere. Could the regular marks show it dipping its head into the snow to dig around for food? I’m stumped! I found many more bird-like tracks..And a strange indentation nearby which looks as though some animal has rested here, but the markings are so regular I’m not sure they can be fur…

A relaxing way to spend an hour or so. I hope I’ll get better at reading the signs – if anyone recognises any of these, let me know!