TRAILING ANIMALS - Part 2

Articles In This Section:

· READING TRACKS

· TALES OF MASTER TRACKERS - Part 1

· TALES OF MASTER TRACKERS - Part 2

· HUMAN TRACKS

· BLAZING YOUR TRAIL

· TRAILING ANIMALS - Part 1

· TRAILING ANIMALS - Part 2

· ANIMAL FOOTPRINTS

· TRACES OF BIRDS

· OTHER MARKS OF ANIMALS AND BIRDS

· THE NATURAL HABITAT OF ANIMALS

· THE DEER

· THE ELK AND MOOSE - Part 1

· THE ELK AND MOOSE - Part 2

· THE FOX

· THE RABBIT

· THE POLECAT

· THE PORCUPINE

· THE BADGER

· THE SQUIRREL

· MAKING PLASTER MOLDS OF TRACKS

The tracks or traces animals make clearly show how they walk. Some small game animals, such as foxes and wildcats, are able, because of their size, to place one paw directly in front of the next, as if they were walking along a tightrope. Others, the big game animals, set their feet next to each other. These hoofed animals walk as if straddling a straight line, leaving what are called cross traces.

You will find such prints when the animal was moving along at an easy, comfortable pace. If the animal was running away or jumping, you'll find sets of prints at intervals. In the case of stags, the prints may be 25 feet apart. The prints of hoofed big game animals resemble the prints a rabbit makes.

From the type of traces or tracks you find, you can determine whether you are dealing with a big or small game animal, and whether the animal was springing or just walking along easily. The length of the jumps or the side-to-side distance between hoofprints will tell you something about the size of the animal. The bigger, taller and older an animal is, the greater the distance from side to side (the cross trace). In general female animals have a smaller cross trace.