British Animal Tracks

By J. S. R. Chard

Originally published in 1936, this is an excellent manual on British animal tracks and tracking. The book is full of clear diagrams and natural history information and is still of much practical use today. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Hesperides Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. Contents Include GENERAL: Definition of Tracking The Normal Footprint Classification by the Normal Footprint Gait, and the Normal Trail Classification by the Normal Trail The Significance of Variations from Normal The Discovery of Tracks Telling the Age of Tracks Following a Track. DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS: Red Deer Fallow Deer Roe Deer Wild Cat Fox Badger Otter Marten Polecat Stoat Weasel Brown Hare Mountain Hare Rabbit Grey Squirrel Red Squirrel Dormouse(Common and Continental) Mice(Yellow-Necked, Wood, House, Harvest) Brown Rat Black Rat Water Rat(''Water Vole'') Musk Rat Hedgehog Mole Shrews(Common, Pigmy, and Water). APPENDICES: How to Take Plaster Casts How to Photograph Tracks

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Sep 6, 2016
• ISBN: 9781473350892

Book preview

CHARD.

PART I

GENERAL

GENERAL

(1) TRACKING is the general term used to describe the art of following and interpreting any sequence of marks left upon the ground by a moving object. In its widest sense it includes the reading of all sign which may comprise a trail, such as (in the case of animals) marks of feeding, droppings, cast hair or fur, blood-spots, etc.; while in its limited sense it is taken to refer only to the interpretation of tracks, i.e. (in the case of animals) footprints.

The scope of this book is mainly confined to the latter meaning of the term.

(2) Tracks, or footprints, are the individual impressions left by the feet of an animal: a sequence of footprints comprises a trail. With some animals, and in certain media, the trail may also include the marks of the tail, and/or body.

So many different factors may influence the formation of a track, that some common standard of comparison has to be recognised before the subject can be presented in any orderly manner. Hence for purposes of description, etc., A NORMAL FOOTPRINT MAY BE DEFINED AS ONE IN WHICH THE FOOT IS NORMALLY SPREAD, i.e. made in a medium which, although soft enough to take a complete impression, is yet firm enough to support the weight (e.g. moist fine sand).

(3) British wild animals may be roughly classified according to their normal footprints into four main groups:

(a) Having horny feet (hooves)—deer.

(b) Having completely hairy feet, with pad and toes not distinct in the track—rabbit and hares.

(c) Having hairy feet with naked toes, and naked pad or pads which are distinct in the track—wild cat, fox, the weasels, and squirrels.

(d) Having completely naked feet, with pads which are often indistinct in the track—rats, mice, voles, hedgehog, mole, and shrews.

In (a) the prints show two toes (or nails) represented by a cloven hoof; and in certain circumstances may show marks of two additional toes represented by dew claws. In (b), (c), and (d) the prints may show five toes on each foot (e.g. weasels, shrews); five toes on the fore-feet, and four on the hind (e.g. hares); four toes on the fore-feet and five on the hind (e.g. squirrels); or only four toes on both fore- and hind-feet (e.g. fox, wild cat). In addition to marks of toes and pad, the normal prints of most animals show marks of claws. Those of otter and musk rat may show marks of webs.

The form and size of the footprint, and the nature of the tread (i.e. whether on toes, ball, or sole), varies not only with species, but also with gait, and to a lesser extent according to age, sex, and other characters. Even in the same animal there is always a difference between prints of fore- and hind-feet, and usually between the feet of different sides. Hence it is not practicable to attempt any further classification of footprints by themselves, and for purposes of description and identification it will be more convenient to group species according to the nature of the trail.

(4) The arrangement or pattern of footprints in the trail may vary both with species, gait, and speed, and to a lesser extent according to age and sex. Of these factors species and gait are most important.

The NORMAL GAIT of an animal is its ordinary or usual mode of progression. Some animals (e.g. deer) may have a number of different gaits corresponding to different rates of movement; others (e.g. hares) have only one gait for all speeds.

Here again some standard of comparison is required, and for purposes of description, etc., A NORMAL TRAIL FOR ANY PARTICULAR GAIT MAY BE DEFINED AS ONE LEFT BY AN ANIMAL MOVING AT THAT GAIT IN A STRAIGHT LINE OVER AN UNBROKEN AND LEVEL SURFACE; i.e. where there are no obstacles to hinder its free movement. Ideally the normal trail would consist of normal footprints.

The median line of a trail is the imaginary longitudinal line on the ground passed over by the centre of the animal’s body, i.e. a line equidistant between the prints of opposite sides.

(5) The normal trails of British wild animals may be classified according to gait as follows:

(i) Normal gait a walk, in which all the prints more or less touch on the median line, and the hind-feet register, i.e. are placed more or less exactly on the prints of the corresponding fore-feet.

Deer (Red, Fallow, Roe)

Other gaits: