The season for mittens—and for middens—is upon us. A good way to ward off the winter blues is to dress for the weather and opt outside to see which animals are out and about as they strive to survive snow, falling temperatures, rising winds and increasingly limited resources as winter progresses.

In tracking lingo, the term “sign” is used to describe evidence of an animal’s presence, despite the absence of an actual sighting. For those with an interest in tracking and observing wildlife, animal sign is significant. 

If you know what you’re looking for, you’ll find that animals leave abundant evidence of their activities and whereabouts. While some, such as scat (animal droppings), are quite obvious, others, like middens, are more subtle and easy to pass by unobserved.

Though we all know what mittens are, there’s a good chance we’ve no idea what middens might be. In both human and animal terms, middens are essentially dumps, or the piled-up remains of discarded and forgotten things. They are also fodder for poetic reflection after one returns from the winter wilds and settles in with paper and pen.