Mary Allen
The paw is the foot or hand of many species of animals. The word usually makes one think of one of the four feet of a mammal. In addition, the paw is soft, in contrast to a horse’s hoof, for example.
Animals with paws are toe walkers, just like birds. With the paw, the animals walk on the balls of their toes. The paw usually includes claws on the ends of the fingers. The paws are mostly hairy except on the pads. Only a few animals like pandas or arctic foxes have hair there too so that they don’t freeze so quickly on snow.