For a forager with the bare minimum to forage, it’s been really exciting this last few weeks to notice the signs of the wild animals in the countryside around me. I went on a day course taught by Lizzy from Pippin & Gile a while back, and yes, I can confirm tracking is both highly addictive and fascinating.

Now there is even more reason to be the annoying person that can’t walk more than 2 metres without disappearing into a bush and rooting around.

I started off in a big meadow, scanning rabbit runs. Obviously, lots of different dog tracks too. Dogs have many types of feet (cat, oval, hare feet…etc!) so it’s vital to be able to tell them apart from anything wilder.

Oval and hare-footed large dogs on the left. Rabbit and badger runs. Rabbit track on right – I think. They are very small and I can only see their claw marks.

I followed some of these trails through grass, they led through a fence and up an embankment, which led me to suspect badgers. The track below looks to me like an older badger print (notice 5 toes and claw marks – mustelid family) with a dog print registering on top. The dog must’ve been wildly excited!

What do you think?

The next day I waited several hours, then dragged my son out of the boat and away from his screen. Yes, I literally had to drag him. Sue me.

We headed into a patch of woods not far from some flats. It was only a small piece of woodland near town, but as we were well off the beaten path we found Muntjac deer tracks and scat (poo!).

Muntjac are our smallest deer, so their hooves are tiny – they only reach to my first finger joint. They bark like dogs, too, only in their own totally weird way…

Found this lovely, clear Muntjac trail too. I think the reason we got so lucky with tracks is that there’s no dogs allowed in this area. It was then we realised we were kind of trespassing. Whoops. We were also having great fun climbing a fallen tree.

I hunted about for tracks by the water’s edge, as animals need water just like we do. I scored big with this amazing badger track. I thought they hibernated all winter, but actually, no, they don’t. They just sleep a lot more (called ‘torpor’) and come out when the weather is mild to forage.

I think by the length of the claws and the smallest digit (the ‘thumb’) on the right, this is a left front track.

On the way back, we found a fox-hole. Well actually, I crawled though some bushes in front of perplexed onlookers and found a fox-hole, whilst my son waited disdainfully on the path further down. I’ve been told it is a fox-hole by a retired paratrooper friend of mine. I haven’t seen a fox come out of it so can’t confirm.

My son discovered carp scales shucked off by the canal. Who dunnit?? Was it an over-zealous fisher person, a dog, or a fox? Maybe a heron?

We finished off making a den in some wood chip whilst my boyfriend moaned about the cold. Time for coffee…

I felt amazing after tracking and looking for sign. Like someone had switched on the current and turned on the light in my head. My step was lighter.

Highly, highly addictive. In a good way. My son had fun too once I got him outside! I’m learning new things every day.

Like I said, I’m not a tracking expert, I’m learning, so making a journal of my amazing time in the wild. If you notice a blunder I have made, feel free to let me know in the comments. Honestly, I won’t bite. Unless I have been in the woods for a bit too long.

xx Hedgewitch Kat xx