August 2026 Natural Mystery Answered

We did not receive any correct answers for our August Natural Mystery. Though the answers received varied a bit, all who answered described something about what they saw including either a "swooping motion" that they saw registering in the sand, or size and markings being similar to some kind of squirrel. These are two of the things that were noticed in the field as well. This was a puzzling track. Here's the story the tracking club pieced together...

These are the tracks of a northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) "landing" or "sitzmark", followed by its hopping tracks leading out of the "sitzmark". 

Let's walk through the evidence together to see how we can come to this ID.

To provide some context, this is a sand logging road that runs through stands of jack and red pine in the Mississippi Headwaters State Forest just west of Bemidji, MN. The track site was two miles or so in to the logging road and was flanked by tall red pines with some recent recovery logging going on not far behind the stand next to the road. There were no tracks leading to the two "swoops" and single central elliptical dots below the Cybertracker card, but there was soft sand for several feet, that only a small portion of had been driven over. So this mark appeared to have just been the beginning or end of a trail of this age. Then, as we can see to the right of this "swoop" portion, there are what appear to be clearer tracks of a similar age leading away from the swoops below the Tracker Mentoring card. 

Let's break this down further into two separate sections of what is going on here in this track, because what is registering on the ground is fairly different in the left side of this image from the right. The first section to look at here are the clearer tracks on the right side of the image. We can see one grouping of four with two hind tracks just to the right of each swooping mark and two front tracks just below the left edge of the Tracker Mentoring card. Then we see again two hind tracks just below the center of the Tracker Mentoring card and two front tracks faintly beyond those to the right, these were easier to see in the field on the day of tracking. 

There is a distracting large round mark in between these tracks and between the "swooping" tracks on the left as well, but we will come back to that later. These groups of four, are very "boxy" in nature, and we are able to distinguish the groups of four with fronts and hinds, because the toes can be counted in some of these tracks. In the two just in line straight below the left edge of the Tracker Mentoring card, we see four toes, and the two in line below the center of the tracker mentoring card, we can (not clearly in this image) almost make out a 1-3-1 pattern of five toes. This would indicate that the less distinct tracks further to the left, just beyond the "swoops" as possibly containing five toes, if this were a hopping rodent. 

The size of these boxy potential hops is approximately 8 cm from back of hind feet to the front of front feet. In this case, this would be the approximate size of this animals body hip-to-shoulder, and would fit for flying squirrel and chipmunk, but be on the smaller side for red squirrel. Front tracks are measuring about 3/4 inch and hind tracks are closer to 1 inch, but don't appear to be registering much of the meta pad, so may be slightly longer than what is registered. 

These tracks would be on the small end for a red squirrel, and groupings of the tracks are not what we typically see for a red squirrel bound which are less of this "boxy" presentation and more of two front tracks landing inside of and behind two hind tracks that are further apart. The size is in range for chipmunk, but again the presentation and "boxiness" is not typical with chipmunks that we usually see in more of a "butterfly" shape to their bounding track pattern. Additionally here, we see hops rather than bounds, as it appears that fronts and hinds are leaving the ground together and landing together in a rather square formation (although, the farthest right front track pair is difficult to make out in this image).

Additionally, chipmunk and red squirrel tracks tend to appear more crisp, with larger, more clearly defined pads. The palm pads on their hind feet form a stronger arc, and the toe five is set farther back. Again, they both also hop much less often with front feet registering closer together and hind feet angled outward. 

So let us go back to the two other, strange elements here, that locked in northern flying squirrel for our group consensus. No tracks led up to this "swooping" presentation on the right despite ample sand leading to it. The "swooping" tracks below the Cybertracker card are the flying squirrel landing on the ground with all four feet, and what is registered in that mark is the squirrels four feet and the folds of skin stretched between them upon which the squirrel glides through the air to its landing. Upon landing, the squirrel will typically hop up and land again just in front of the sitzmark where the four feet will register more clearly rather than the full body (or in this case skin folds and testicles between them) landing mark. So finally, as I just mentioned, the blob-like dot in the rear-middle of the sitzmark and again in the rear-middle of the first hop is this individual's testicles touching down as it lands on the earth. 

Flying squirrels, like most other squirrels, mate in late winter, and again in mid-summer, and when they are in rut, their testosterone surges, and their testicles descend more fully and are engorged. This is why this male's testicles are on clear display for us in two instances in these tracks. When not mating, their testicles retract back into their inguinal canal and in those times, we may not have been able to determine not only the species but the sex of this individual by its tracks! (more info on this HERE in the Oxford Academic Journal of Mammology from 1969)

To see a great example of a flying squirrel landing, watch this Youtube video, in settings, turn your player to 0.25 speed in playback, and watch for 1:28 for the landing. You'll see the squirrel almost splat land, then scrunch it's body up in a hop and land more gracefully just in front of that spot. This is what we're seeing in these marks. 

Given the location and the timing, all the evidence points to these being the sitz or landing tracks of a male northern flying squirrel. 

Thanks again to Lake Country Tracking Club for providing us with this Natural Mystery, and thanks again to everyone who submitted an answer.