Animal Tracks 



Robert W. Hegxer 



The University of Michigan 



The suspicious nature of wild animals and their keen senses of 

 sight, smell and hearing make it difficult under ordinary circum- 

 stances to study them in their native haunts. Everyone is familiar 

 with the fact that a much larger number of birds are heard than 

 are seen by bird students and that an approximate idea of the bird 

 life of a locality can best be obtained by noting the number and 

 kinds of bird songs as well as by observing the birds themselves. 

 The fur-bearing quadrupeds (mammals) are even more difficult to 

 find and since they do not sing and seldom make any sound at all 

 some other method must be sought by means of which their num- 

 bers and kinds may be estimated. The solution of this problem 

 lies in the study of animal tracks, and just as the songs of birds add 

 to our enjoyment while in the fields and woods so the study of 

 animal tracks contribute to the pleasure that we may derive from 

 trips afield. 



An animal track may be defined as the imprint of the foot of an 

 animal in the snow or ground. When a number of tracks follow 

 each other in succession they form what we may call a trail. Snow 

 is by far the best medium for the making of animal tracks. Next 

 in importance are wet sand, clay, and mud. The tracks are of 

 course only temporary since the melting of the snow or an addi- 

 tional covering of snow sooner or later destroys or hides them. 

 Tracks made in clay or mud last longer unless they are washed out 

 by rain. Impressions made in light, dry snow may disappear in a 

 few hours and like the daily newspaper must be read the day they 

 are made if they are to be of any value. On the other hand, the 

 tracks of a deer in wet snow may last for weeks or even months and 

 are comparable to our weekly or monthly journals. The best time 

 to study tracks is therefore in the winter after a fresh fall of snow. 

 In the summer the banks of lakes, ponds or streams should be fre- 

 quented especially after a rain, thus insuring fresh, clear tracks- 

 Signs are also of importance in determining the character of the 

 fauna in any region since bear logs, blazed trees, bearer stumps, 

 and the excrement of animals serve to indicate the presence of 

 many species just as certainly as if the animals that made them 

 had actually been seen. In fact a science has grown up from the 

 study of animal excrement known as scatology. 



