scrape

A patch of ground deliberately cleared by an animal — pawed, raked, or scratched to bare earth — as a territorial marker or signpost. Deer scrapes are found under overhanging branches called licking branches; the buck paws the ground, urinates in the depression, and rubs the branch above with its forehead glands, creating a multi-layered scent station. Mountain lions scrape and cover their scat with debris. Wild turkeys scratch through leaf litter looking for mast, leaving three-toed rake marks in the duff. Each scrape is a message, left for a specific audience and written in a medium humans can see but not fully read.