a dog goes, or a more cautious, circling approach, which is typical of wolf or 

 coyote. The claws of the fox cannot he fully retracted, so that its tracks show 

 some evidences of claw marks. Its tracks are considerably farther apart than 

 those of a dog of the same size and line up more nearly like those of the cat. In 

 deep snow its large tail also leaves an occasional imprint. All these animals 

 show the print of only four toes on both fore and hind foot. 



Bears and raccoons walk flat-footed or plantigrade and therefore leave 

 tracks resembling those of the human hand and foot. The bear frequently 

 tiptoes, however, and then leaves what might easily be mistaken for a cougar 

 track, unless the fifth toe and the claw prints were noticed. 



The very small mammals, such as mice and shrews, may be best tracked 

 after a light snowfall or in fine sand or dust. The climbing mice, such as deer 

 mice, leave a pattern like that of a miniature squirrel, when they travel fast. 

 The more terrestrial species, such as the meadow mouse and the house mouse, 

 rarely pair their fore prints, and usually leave irregular groups of four prints. 

 The shrews leave a variety of trails where they cannot tunnel. A common 

 shrew pattern is a double one of staggered prints, but when the creature hurries 

 the footprints often fall in pairs. If tracking conditions are ideal, the tail may 

 leave a print, especially if the shrew has backed up, as at such times it feels its 

 way with its tail. If snow or dust be a little deeper, the stout body, scarcely 

 lifted above the ground by the short legs, may plow a furrow in which the foot' 

 prints can be seen. 



Some caution should be observed in attempting to identify animal tracks, 

 especially in series. Most mammals seem to have as many gaits as a high- 

 school saddle horse. In most published accounts one will find described either 

 the most common gait or one which, although not the usual, is distinctive. For 

 example, the skunk tracks most often figured in such accounts are those in which 

 four prints fall in a diagonal row. This peculiar arrangement is rarely made 

 by any other mammal, and it is made by the skunk only when he gallops. The 

 more usual gait is a shufUling walk, with two rows of tracks, fore and hind 

 foot of each side falling fairly evenly spaced. Rabbit and squirrel may pick 

 their way across mud in short steps, leaving a series quite differently arranged 

 from the usual hop. Mouse tracks offer another common example of varying 

 gaits. In rapid movement over open areas the more climbing of the mice, such 

 as the deer mouse, leave a pattern much like a miniature squirrel track, but when 

 foraging their tracks may fall more like those of the meadow mouse and other 

 poor climbers, which do not pair the tracks of their front feet. After a light 

 snow the beginner will do well to watch for variations in gait in dog tracks 

 across some open area. He may find the normal pattern of a staggered row, 

 the bunching in fours usually typical of the weasel group, and even a series of 

 rabbit-like pattern, where hind legs were thrown around and before the fore 

 legs. Caution should be observed in regard to tail print. Only a few mammals, 



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