Who left paw prints on the path?

Have you ever walked on a path after rain? The mud feels soft and squishy under your boots. One morning, you spot little paw prints in it. Who left paw prints on the path?

Soft mud keeps the shape of every foot that steps on it. An animal walked here and pressed its paws into the mud. The paw prints it left can tell us who it was.

Three animals could have walked this way: a cat, a fox and a big dog. Let's check the paw prints, one thing at a time. Each thing we find will help us cross off animals.

First, check the size. Each print is small, even smaller than your hand. A big dog has big paws, so its paw prints are big too. That means the big dog did not walk here.

Now two animals are left, the cat and the fox. Both of them have small, soft paws. Size alone can't choose between them.

Look closely at the tip of each toe. There are tiny dots in the mud. These are claw marks, which means the little holes that sharp claws poke into mud.

A cat tucks its claws inside its paws when it walks. So cat paw prints have no claw marks at all. Which animal is left now?

It's the fox! A fox can't tuck its claws in, so they press into the mud with every step. Small paw prints with claw marks belong to a fox.

Claw marks. Small paw prints with claw marks show us that a fox walked on the path.

Sleep well, and next time you find paw prints, you can check them too.