RSPB Nature Tracker's Handbook

By Nick Baker

RSPB The Nature Tracker's Handbook is a complete guide to how to interpret the signs that animals leave behind.

The art of nature tracking is very much like learning to read, but instead of reading words the tracker reads traces. Every animal leaves different traces as it goes about its everyday business. If you learn to read the signs left by footprints, leftover food, droppings and scrapes in the earth, you will soon be able to tell the story of an animal's life, packed with fascinating details and hidden meanings.

The RSPB Nature Tracker's Handbook explains with extensive photography and detailed diagrams how to find and interpret the evidence that animals leave behind – from a pile of mangled feathers to a delicately nibbled mushroom. Nick Baker also demonstrates useful tracker activities, such as how to mount a discarded nymph skin and how to dissect an owl's pellet to reveal its last meal.

There's a nature detective in all of us, so get out there and get tracking.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Dec 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781472932563

Nick Baker

Nick Baker has presented a number of wildlife programmes including The Really Wild Show, Weird Creatures with Nick Baker and more recently Springwatch and Autumnwatch. Nick Baker's Beautiful Freaks was one of the first presenter-led 3D programmes in the UK. He has also written a number of well-received books, including Nick Baker's Bug Book and The New Amateur Naturalist. He lives in Devon with Dartmoor on his doorstep and is Vice President of Buglife.

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Contents

INTRODUCTION

STUFF IN THE TRACKER’S KITBAG

Handy tracker tools

Codes of practice

The high-tech tracker

TRACKS AND TRAILS

Identifying footprints

Getting the measure of an animal

Following the trail

Mammals with pads

Mammals with cloven hooves

Mammals with hooves

Reptiles and amphibians

Ghost trails

A well-trodden track

SIGNS OF FEEDING ACTIVITY

Leaf damage

Lumps and bumps

The nut crackers

Cone crunchers

Fruit, roots and fungi

NESTS

WHOSE HOLE?

When a hole isn’t a home

Bird holes

Arthropod holes

THE PLEASURES OF POO

The turds of birds

Mammal droppings

PELLETS

Identifying pellets

What’s in an owl pellet?

DEAD THINGS

The remains of dinner

NATURAL OBJECTS AND REMAINS

Skeletal specifics

Skins

Feathers and fur

Secrets in silk

Glossary

Acknowledgements and picture credits

Introduction

Sand is the perfect soft surface to see tracks such as these bird prints.

Why chase these scuffs in the dust?

Funnily enough, the answer to that question is not necessarily about finding the animal that made them. This may come as a bit of shock if you’ve just picked up this book expecting it will lead you to your favourite but elusive British mammal. Actually following a trail to its ultimate conclusion and meeting the maker of the marks rarely happens, even to the most experienced trackers.

For a start, you hardly ever get a complete trail, usually only a few footprints of the animal that passed and even then only when the environmental conditions allow. In learning to track you’ll find yourself learning to read again, but from a book that has had its pages torn up and scattered to the winds and you have to piece them together again. So why bother?

Pleasure of the chase

Just like learning to read, tracking wildlife is not so much about the end destination – the pleasure is in the moment and in the detective process. So you might not gain an actual physical closeness to your quarry, but by interpreting the signs it left behind you can get a very intimate ‘look’ at what it gets up to and develop a better understanding of what makes it tick.

They say that every animal leaves some kind of a trace, no matter how small, as it passes through its environment: perhaps an odour trail or a shed whisker. Take a square metre of, say, your garden hedge. Just imagine all the worms that have passed between the roots; the caterpillars that have fed on the leaves; the mice that have foraged for berries; the neighbour’s cat whose curiosity has led him to sniff around and investigate the signs left by the mice; the Hedgehog that has holed up for hibernation among the roots; and the Badger that has rudely shoved his way through the tangle of branches on his nightly forays over the neighbourhood lawns. It’s all there; the stories can be told if you know what to look out for.

Even the tiniest scratches and scrapes can tell a story. Here the concentration of claw marks on this section of log reveals where a Badger climbs over it regularly.

Tracking skills can be applied to every living thing that moves; here trails in the fine wet sand plot the meanderings of a snail.

Some signs are almost non-existent: a mere whisper of a trace, the detection of which may well be beyond the scope of this book, but sometimes a sign is very obvious: a tree stump covered in the feathers of a Blue Tit positively shouts ‘Sparrowhawk’ at the budding nature detective.

Ever since the first human climbed down from the trees, the art of tracking and being tuned in to the world around you has been a matter of life, death, going hungry or eating well.

Long before the advent of the supermarket, being able to find your dinner meant much more than identifying which aisle the frozen pizza could be found in. The original takeaway would run around and hide and do all it could to avoid being consumed, so our ancestors were kept on their toes. They would have had to interpret the signs and subtle clues left by their fellow species in order to avoid starving to death. Following the signs left by your quarry, or indirectly looking for the signs left by other predators which may well have lead to a fresh kill, were paramount to daily survival.

In some ways we’ve come a long way since then, and you may well argue that, other than for those who still hunt, these skills are redundant, the relics of a past beast. Yet hunting takes many forms: the naturalist armed with a camera may be trying to track down a subject in the quest for a perfect photograph. Using the available evidence can put the photographer in the best place for a shot – any fool can look, but only a good tracker looks in the right place. So for us professional (or aspiring) wildlife cameramen, naturalists and ecologists, being able to decipher the multitude of signs all around us is the difference between getting the information, the sighting, the photograph or the film we want and going home unsuccessful.

Tracker’s funnel

A North American book I found recently describes the process of investigating animal signs and narrowing down the possibilities of which species may have left them as a ‘tracker’s funnel’. Awareness of whereabouts you are in the world and then which particular habitat you’re in are essential first stages in making an accurate identification.

Although some animals are generalists and occur virtually everywhere, most have specific habitat requirements. Being aware what these are will help to fine-tune your tracking skills. For example, take the Red Squirrel. You will not find signs of it everywhere, as it mainly exists in the bioregion of Eurasia and in the ecoregion of northern Europe. Its preferred habitat narrows down the sites where you’re likely to find it still further – it favours coniferous areas of northern forests that are not populated by the ecologically dominant and introduced Grey Squirrel. So unless you are standing under some pine trees in a northern European forest, you are not likely to find the tracks or other signs of this species. Initially, you may need to refer to field guides, but in time a lot of information will become programmed into your head and you will sift through it in seconds.

Part of the process of tracking is getting a sense of what you might expect to find living in any given habitat or bioregion. You won’t get Red Squirrels leaving tracks in estuary mud, for example.

Get connected

‘What made that track?’ is one of the most natural questions in the world. I believe that an intimate connection with the natural world is what’s missing in many of our lives. If we as a species can reconnect on many levels with the world around us and with the latent tracker inside ourselves, then I believe we have a chance, a future as a species. So to take the argument to its ultimate conclusion: although the art of tracking, for most of us, is no longer directly a matter of life and death, the process of connecting with nature is.

How to use this handbook

This book is a training manual for your senses, helping you to see again and showing you how to notice things as insignificant as a bent blade of grass or a trail in the dew. Knowing how to interpret these signs, combined with others, can help to build a picture of what has passed (sometimes when droppings are involved – quite literally).

Most books on this subject tend to feature just the physical evidence. What we are attempting to do, however, is to bring the animals back into the picture. So instead of simply stating that as an animal speeds up its trail changes drastically, I will attempt to show you the tracks in relation to the moving animal and show you how they are created.

The other day I was explaining the different ways in which small mammals eat hazelnuts, and someone in the audience asked how a dormouse makes such a neat job while a squirrel makes a right pig’s ear of it. To answer the question, I had to visualise the mammal holding the nut and picture how it uses its teeth to get to the kernel. It’s all quite simple and logical, and it is this approach that I apply all the way through this book.

The secret to good tracking is being able to visualise an animal, such as this running Hare, moving or feeding and how it created the sign that you are left to interpret.

Rather than arranging the subjects as a field guide with all the mammals herded between certain pages in one section and all the birds stuffed in another, I’ve tried to do something different and hopefully a little more user-friendly. The book is very simply divided and categorised by the type of sign that you might have before you.

Imagine you’ve found some droppings on your lawn: rather than expect you to know what animal may be responsible, which requires a degree of existing knowledge, I’m going to assume you are a total beginner. All you need to do is turn to the chapter with the unattractive title: The Pleasures of Poo. Likewise, the rest of the book is broken down into other general signs such as feeding activity, nests and holes – and in each chapter I give you some idea of which species may have left its mark.

Now let’s cut to the chase, get down to the fun stuff and get tracking.

Stuff in the tracker’s kitbag

The most brilliant thing about tracking is that you need very little, if any, specialist equipment – it’s all about using your senses, particularly your eyesight. There are, however, a few handy bits and pieces that a keen nature detective would be wise to stuff in his or her pockets or rucksack.

Everything a tracker could possibly need can fit into the smallest of backpacks and most of it is relatively cheap and readily available.

Handy tracker tools

Notebook and pencil

These are undoubtedly the most useful bits of kit for me (pencils are always better in the field than pens as they don’t freeze in the cold and the ink doesn’t run if you get your paper wet). If you’ve got these simple bits of low technology with you, you can record every detail of a sign or make a sketch and not worry about forgetting any details. If your writing is good and your note-taking is accurate, you can use your notes for future reference and steadily build up a library of knowledge.

You can make notes on phones and take digital pictures of almost everything, but nothing hones observation skills and makes details stick into your memory better than actually writing down, sketching and measuring what you’ve seen, and recording it in detail in a notebook (oh, and use a pencil – ink runs when it gets damp).

Tape measure or ruler

This is very important for measuring prints and track dimensions (so often key to identifying the animal that made them) and, of course, you can place it next to the track if you are taking a picture (more about cameras and photographing signs later).

Some way of scaling tracks and signs in you notes and photographs is very useful and can make the difference in getting the identity right. A small ruler or tape measure is most useful.

Ziploc® bags

These are indispensable and come in a variety of sizes; every naturalist should carry a few about his or her person at all times as you just never know when you might need one. Specimen tubes are also invaluable. They’re great for collecting all manner of specimens, such as feathers, droppings, pellets and bones. The other bonus is that they stop sometimes unsavoury items ‘escaping’ into the dark recesses of your pockets or bags (especially important if you’re in the habit of keeping sandwiches and specimens in the same bag).

Ziploc® bags and specimen tubes are essential for bagging feeding signs, droppings, pellets, hair and feathers. Always remember to pop a label in as well, with date, location and any other useful information.

Labels

Just a quick jotting of date, place and description can save a lot of guessing later on.

Magnifying lens

This is a small and simple device that no naturalist should be without. Hang it around your neck or keep it in your pocket – you’re sure to need to use it in the field. With a hand lens you can look into a backlit leaf mine and see the owner practically waving back at you, reveal the tiniest scratches made by a vole’s fingernails on a nut, or see the barbules on a feather.

I favour the small jeweller’s loops of x8 or x10 magnification as they fold in on themselves and are self-protecting. It’s worth splashing out on a good one, with a screw pivot that can be tightened (they get looser with age). If you don’t want to get too close to a decidedly ‘niffy’ carnivore’s dropping or a decomposing shrew, you may prefer to carry a larger ‘classic’ magnifying glass and look the part of a nature detective.

A good magnifying lens will set you back a few quid, but a x10 hand lens is an essential bit of kit, allowing you to examine details such as hair colour or tooth marks. Stick it on a piece of string and keep it around your neck.

Forceps/ tweezers

These come in handy for picking up delicate things and anything you wouldn’t want to handle. You can raid a make-up bag or bathroom cabinet for a pair, or alternatively source them from a chemist.

Some of the things you’ll want to investigate might be a little unsavoury and for these a pair of forceps is often preferable to fingers.

Wooden kebab skewers and string

Lollipop sticks work just as well as kebab skewers and are useful for visualising and measuring trail patterns (more about that later).

String and sticks (or kebab skewers and twine) are handy for marking out a scene or plotting a set of tracks.

Camera

Taking digital pictures is a perfect way to build up your reference collection and record any sign in situ quickly and accurately. Gone are the days when you worried about what the chap developing your film would think of you when he saw pictures of a vole impaled on a barbed-wire fence (a shrike’s larder in case you’re wondering) or a slightly glistening Badger dropping (a work of art if stuffed with the wing cases of dung beetles). Even if you manage to take a plaster cast or trace, having photographs of footprints will prove invaluable. The most useful camera to have is one with a good macro facility as this enables the user to take photographs of some of the smallest and most delicate details (see The high-tech tracker for more on photography).

A camera provides an extremely handy and quick way of recording any scene for reference. Don’t forget you may have one on your phone too.

Torch

I always carry a small, lightweight LED torch, which is useful if you get caught out after dark. It’s also handy for illuminating signs in dingy places, backlighting leaves and other objects, and creating side-lighting to show up the details and relief of footprints, especially when the ambient light is a little flat.

There is a reason why crime scene investigators use flashlights – they illuminate details easily missed in all but the brightest of light conditions and they have the ability to focus your attention within the beam, so that you’ll notice things you might have otherwise missed.

Plaster-cast kit

More on this later, but basically this comprises a quantity of dry plaster powder, a pot to mix it in, another vessel to transport water and stuff to make a frame. See Making Casts for more information.

A plaster-cast kit for recording footprints is a fun and useful tool for building a collection of prints for future reference.

Tracking stick

You don’t need anything fancy, just a stick and a couple of elastic bands. This is a very handy bit of kit especially for those new to tracking. The magic is in how you use it… See Tracking Stick for how to make one of your own.

A tracking stick is little more than a stick and a few elastic bands, but it provides a very useful way to help beginners follow, measure and understand a set of tracks.

Trail camera

The price of remote recording equipment is coming down, and it is now possible to buy a trail camera for a very small outlay. The purist animal trackers may not be that keen on them, but I love them and have played with several models over the years. They can help you confirm your hunches, place your tracking beds and generally throw light on what animals are out there. If you’ve got one that can record moving images, it will also tell you what they are getting up to. They are very much part of the modern animal tracker’s kit.

One of the more recent additions to the tracker’s kit bag is a very useful bit of technology called a trail camera.

Wet wipes

Last but not least, and I know this doesn’t sound very‘rufty tufty’ and true to the image of a wild animal tracker, but you’ll find a small bottle of hand sanitiser or wet wipes indispensable – they’ll give you the peace of mind that you’re not transferring unmentionable bacteria to your cheese and onion crisps at lunchtime.

Codes of practice

When you’re out and about it’s worth remembering that more often than not you will be standing on ground that belongs to someone else. It is therefore important and respectful to other people, and the landscape, including the animals you’re tracking, to obey some very basic rules of conduct – often referred to as the countryside code.

One of the important rules of the countryside code: leave gates as you find them.

Respect for the environment

I don’t want to stamp loads of rules and restrictions on you before the book has even started, but I guess it’s a sign of the times that I have to tip my hat in the general direction of common sense and spell out a few basics to you.

When out and about it’s a good idea to stick to the countryside code; in a nutshell you can’t go far wrong if you close gates and make sure you have the permission of the landowner if you are going to stray from footpaths.

Be aware that some animals are protected to a lesser or greater extent by law, and make sure you know of the ones that may be in your area and what you can and cannot do in relation to them, their habitats, nests, roosts and burrows. Bear in mind that it is illegal in some countries to be in possession of artefacts belonging to protected animals such as nests, eggshells, feathers, bones and other remains – check out the law protecting the animals that frequent your area. If in doubt, don’t do it.

Your health

I have very clear memories as a kid of really upsetting my grandparents by poking around in a runny Badger dropping with a stick and announcing to the world that this one had been eating blackberries. Obviously this sort of behaviour can give you very useful insights into the fine details of an animal’s life, but not only does it cross the line of what many people deem ‘normal’ behaviour, but also it does so for very good reasons.

The droppings of some animals do carry nasty germs and diseases: toxocariasis from many mammals, particularly dogs and cats; psittacosis from various birds; salmonellosis and E. coli from almost anything and histoplasmosis from bats and rodents to name but a few. There are also diseases that you can pick up from the remains of dead animals, and a bird or a mammal carcass may either have been placed, laced with poison, to kill other animals, or it may have been a victim of accidental or illegal poisoning. Some poisons can be absorbed through the skin, so items should not be touched directly if there is any chance of poison involvement. So be aware, assume the worst and operate just like those good-looking CSI detectives you see on telly: wear gloves and a face mask if necessary, and wash your hands after touching droppings or animal remains.

There is a very good basic biological survival instinct in all of us that tells us not to put our fingers in this and stir it around (well, not without thoroughly scrubbing your hands afterwards anyway).

If you need to explore faecal material, do it at arm’s length with a stick; if you have to get closer, try to keep your face as far away as is practical and hold your breath. Some animal droppings do need a little sniff to identify the owner, for example to separate an Otter spraint (it smells relatively pleasantly, some say of summer meadows) from mink droppings (the word pleasant cannot in any way be used to describe their odour). Use your common sense and, for example, don’t go doing the same to try to distinguish Fox from dog. There’s a risk of contracting toxocariasis from the former, so it should never be attempted.

The high-tech tracker

After spending hours in the field trying to work out which animals are leaving signs of their presence, the dream of most trackers is to verify their hunches and to witness the animals in action. This is now possible thanks to some clever little digital devices.

I’m addicted to trail cameras – they close the gap between the tracker and the tracked, and the better you are at tracking, the better pictures you’ll get. It’s like leaving your eyes and ears out in the woods overnight.

Trail cameras

These neat all-in-one units, collectively called trail cameras, were originally developed for the hunting market in the US and have now found their way into the kitbag of the modern field naturalist. They vary a lot in price, quality and features, but all of them enable you to monitor a location remotely.

They consist of a small camera unit, with a tiny lens and the ability to record the information digitally on a memory card. Most have PIR (passive infra-red) sensors (the sort you find in security lights, which work on sensitivity to movement and temperature) and some kind of LED lighting, which is either red or infra-red and allows images to be captured on even the darkest night.

You can attach trail cameras to natural objects, or in the absence of the perfect tree trunk or rock, why not bring your own post? This camera is in