Our team embarked on a tracking expedition with Pam Landry, the Wildlife Education Coordinator from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife!! Pam led a wonderful morning walk by the Quabbin Reservoir to look for mammal tracks in the snow. We spotted tracks from red and gray foxes, snowshoe hares, bobcats, coyotes, and squirrels. We worked to identify tracks by using gait pattern, toe and pad shape, size, and behavior. It was very interesting to observe animal behavior through their tracks! We found tracks of squirrels bounding from tree to tree and of coyotes going up and down the trail. We observed pairs of tracks running side by side and tracks of multiple species overlapping. Shown above are bobcat tracks with a ruler for size. Bobcat tracks can be identified by a prominent second toe and a five-lobed pad. A clue to identifying bobcats versus foxes is that felids have retractable claws, whereas canids do not, contributing to our ability to tell a bobcat track from a fox track.

Learn more about bobcats in our mammal feature below! 

For any more mammal sightings, submit any photos to the form here!

Reminder to anyone with a Ring camera or similar security system installed; these systems help us collect important data on the presence and absence of mammals in your area. We welcome you to join our team of registered volunteers who submit photos once a month. Having regular reports from a fixed location allows us to learn even more about mammals in your area than individual sightings.  New volunteers can register here 

This month, we met with Post-Doctoral Researcher Matt Hyde from the California Wolf Project at the University of California Berkeley! Matt is a wildlife ecologist and conservation scientist studying carnivore ecology and conflict with humans across the Americas. His research incorporates tools for spatial ecology, behavioral ecology, and conservation psychology to evaluate the effectiveness of nonlethal strategies, assess livelihood impacts, and evaluate outcomes of conflict mitigation strategies. He is interested in locally-led and collaborative approaches to creating actionable research, such as co-production with livestock producers and wildlife managers. In our meeting, we learned about Matt’s project and told him about our own. We asked about community engagement strategies, especially for more rural areas in Massachusetts. We also inquired about improving our camera data collection and sorting mechanisms with Artificial Intelligence. Thank you, Matt!

The bobcat, Lynx rufus, is the only wild feline found in Massachusetts. Bobcats start to breed around this time of year, between February and March, with kittens being born approximately 60 days later. Litters consist of 1 to 4 kittens, remaining with their mother until mid to late autumn. Male bobcats are not involved in raising the young; females are their newborns' sole providers and defenders. Once fully grown, bobcats can weigh up to 35lbs, approximately two times the size of the house cat, with males being 33% larger than females. These cats are known for their “bobbed” tails, which are genetically inherited rather than due to injury, giving these animals their iconic name! 

Sources: https://www.massaudubon.org/nature-wildlife/mammals-in-massachusetts/bobcats

Imagine the Peer Gynt Suites playing as our wonderful neighbors come back out to mark the ending of winter and the beginning of a beautiful Massachusetts springtime! Hibernation serves a vital purpose for many animals, allowing them to reduce energy use when food is scarce--and for some to have babies in a safe environment.  With the rays of sun we’ve been getting and the fluctuation in temperatures, many of our Mass Mammals have begun arousing from hibernation. You will start seeing more bears, woodchucks, and bats. Post hibernation, animals will usually be lighter in weight, begin shedding their winter coats if they grow one, and animals will need to drink plenty of water. The goal now will be the successful development of offspring, including foraging skills, fight or flight practice, especially on paved roadways, and nest or den building. 

Never Heard Peer Gynt Suite No. 1? Listen here

Meet Savita!

What is your class year? 

2028

What is your major? 

I’m still undeclared and am exploring some different options, but I am currently interested in a double major in Biology and History.

What is a fun fact about you? 

I took Indian classical dance lessons from ages 5 to 17.

Why did you join MassMammals? 

I joined MassMammals after being in Professor Kristensen’s lab last semester. She had us do a project where we set up trail cameras and monitored their data for a few months, and I had so much fun with it that she suggested that I join MassMammals! I also wanted to be involved in something that allowed me to engage with our community while learning about science, so MassMammals was the perfect fit.