Bounding is done by animals with relatively long bodies. The animal springs forward like a slinky-toy releasing itself, and all four feet come down in the same general area, and then they repeat the operation, leaving clustered prints in widely separated groups, as shown above. There are plenty of bounding animals -- weasels, minks, otters, and many more. However, in our backyards most of us will only see the tracks of two kinds of bounders -- chipmunks and squirrels. And they don't always bound.

Prints of chipmunks and squirrels often show claw marks, but sometimes the claws don't show at all. The chipmunk's tracks above show widely spread toes, but on a hard surface often the toes are much closer together. Like all tracks, they vary.