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Footprints in snow – pets

Cat footprint in snow

Fresh overnight snow is good for showing footprints of the animals which have been about. These can include pets as well as wild animals. Cats have a footprint divided into pads which fit together into a rounded foot (above) which does not show claw-marks.

Dog footprint in snow

Dog prints are broader than foxes. The claw marks may, as here, be very faint. Fox prints (but not dogs) also seem to line up in a single straight line, left and right feet on the same track.

Claws and/or toes figure in the prints of any other of the larger wild mammals which are likely to be seen in urban areas like Wolverhampton.

Badger prints look (to my eye) rather like clawed hands, with “palms” broader yet than those of dogs.

Rabbit and squirrel have clearer toes than the other mammals mentioned here.