Wildlife

Rat droppings run 1/4 to 3/4 in with no white cap. Lizard droppings stay under 1/4 in and carry one. A measured comparison with cleanup and health facts.

Deer tracks are split, heart shaped hoof prints 2 to 3.25 in long. Here is how to read size, direction, gait and the lookalikes.

A ladybug indoors is read as luck arriving, with the meaning shifting by color, place and how often it returns. Here is the folklore and the practical reason it came in.

Most blue flies in the US are blow flies that cannot bite. Identification by size, sheen and behavior, plus the blue lookalikes that sting.

Mice squeak, chirp, gnaw and scurry, and most of their calls are ultrasonic. Here is what each sound means, when you hear it, and how to tell mice from rats and squirrels in a wall.

Lizard droppings carry a chalky white tip and shiny insect fragments. Mouse droppings are pointed at both ends and solid dark throughout. Here is how to read both in seconds.

Rat tracks show four front toes, five hind toes and a tail drag line down the middle of the trail. Here are the measurements for snow, mud and sand, and how they differ from mouse, squirrel and vole tracks.

Alligator scat is chalky white to gray, full of bone and shell, and almost always found beside water. What it looks like, where to look, and the three deposits it gets confused with.

North America’s largest frog eats birds, snakes, and other frogs. Here is how to tell one from a green frog, how big they really get, and why western states treat them as invaders.

Tree frog droppings are dark, glossy and packed with insect parts, and they pile up under the same perch night after night. How to identify them and tell them from rodent and roach waste.