Snake tracking differs fundamentally from identifying mammals because snakes lack limbs and do not leave traditional footprints. Their movement across a substrate creates a continuous trail or impression that reflects the specific method of locomotion employed. Understanding a snake’s path involves recognizing these linear signs left in soft material like sand, dust, or fine mud. Interpreting these impressions correctly confirms a snake’s presence and differentiates it from other forms of ground disturbance.
Understanding Locomotion Patterns and Trail Shapes
The most common impression found is the result of serpentine movement, also known as lateral undulation, which creates a continuous, wavy, side-to-side track. The snake propels itself by pushing against vertical irregularities, causing its body to form a series of overlapping curves. The resulting impression appears as a smooth, meandering line where the trail width corresponds to the width of the snake’s body.
Rectilinear movement, sometimes called “caterpillar” movement, is used for slow, straight travel over relatively smooth surfaces. The snake moves in a straight line by sequentially lifting and pulling its body forward using its broad ventral scales. The trail left behind is minimal, often appearing as parallel, slightly disturbed lines created by the edges of the scales dragging through the material.
Sidewinding leaves the most distinct and easily recognizable pattern, particularly in loose substrates like desert sand or fine silt. The snake throws its body into loops, lifting segments off the ground and creating a series of short, unconnected, J-shaped impressions. Only two or three points of the snake’s body are in contact with the ground, which minimizes contact with hot or shifting surfaces. The orientation of the “J” track indicates the direction of travel, and the overall path is often diagonal to the direction of the individual segments.
The concertina method is primarily used for climbing or navigating confined spaces, not open travel across flat ground. The snake bunches its body into tight, S-shaped curves to anchor one section while extending the rest of its body. When performed on the ground, this leaves short, bunched, and highly irregular impressions, often appearing as repeated, compressed segments. This pattern indicates a snake traversing a small gap or attempting to ascend an obstruction.
Confirming Presence Through Non-Trail Evidence
A shed skin, or slough, provides definitive proof of a snake’s presence and can last much longer than a temporary track impression. A complete shed appears inside-out, like a translucent, milky-white casing, often retaining the precise pattern of the dorsal scales and the transparent eye caps. The skin feels dry and thin; a recent shed is generally more intact and pliable than one exposed to the elements.
Snake scat is another reliable sign, though it is less frequently encountered than shed skin and depends on the snake’s feeding schedule. Unlike many mammals, snake feces often contains a distinct, chalky white cap of solidified uric acid. This white material is present because snakes excrete nitrogenous waste as solid urates rather than liquid urea, making the dark, cylindrical droppings highly identifiable.
Finding these non-trail items, especially near a potential trail, validates that the movement sign was left by a snake. The location of slough often suggests a nearby hiding spot or a rubbing surface used during ecdysis, confirming the species has recently been active in the immediate area.
Practical Tracking and Avoiding Misidentification
Searching for tracks is most productive in areas where soil is softest, such as sandy banks near water sources or dusty patches along field edges. Snakes frequently travel along habitat boundaries, like the transition between a grassy area and bare dirt, or near cover like rocks, fallen logs, or discarded sheets of plywood. These locations provide both cover and a clear substrate for impressions.
A common tracking error is confusing a genuine snake trail with the drag mark left by an inanimate object, such as a dragging stick or rope. Lizard trails can be distinguished because they include distinct toe or foot prints running parallel to any belly drag mark. A dragging stick usually leaves a consistent, straight groove without the characteristic overlapping curves or segmented patterns of serpentine movement.
To confirm the origin of the trail, trackers should follow the impression for several feet to assess the consistency of the pattern. A genuine snake trail maintains the specific shape associated with one of the four locomotion types, such as the symmetrical wave of lateral undulation or the segmented print of sidewinding. Verifying the track’s pattern over distance helps ensure accurate identification.