Paw prints in the snow. Formozov A.N. Pathfinder Companion. Footprints on a snowy path. Traces of elk, deer, roe deer, musk deer and wild boar. Kamchatka snow sheep
The fox is found on the territory of Russia from the east to the most western borders, from the coast of the Arctic to the south. This red cheat did not settle only on a few islands of the Arctic, on its coastal regions with a harsh climate, as well as on the archipelagos.
In whatever region of the country hunters go hunting, they can everywhere meet the common fox and see its tracks. This article will help, using photos of the tracks of a fox and other animals, to determine exactly who owns the tracks left by the beast in the snow.
Basic concepts
How wonderful it is to enter the world of fields, steppes and forests, to learn more about the life of their inhabitants. Watching birds and especially animals is very difficult. There is no trouble in this, their life will help to study the traces left by them after themselves. If you want to become a pathfinder, you need to work hard, because the main thing in this difficult business is experience and practice.
You have probably heard the saying more than once that it is better to see once than hear a hundred times. Wherever you are, carefully look around you, life is seething everywhere, which is important to be able to see. Better in winter time go skiing or walking to the forest, taking with you a camera, a pencil and a notebook. Keeping constant notes and sketches, learn to correctly recognize which animal left a mark on the snow.
The tracks are different, but it’s better to learn to read the paw prints left in the snow by animals right away. Determining exactly who left a trace behind him is not always easy. For example, clear paw prints are rarely seen in winter, but a trail can be found without much effort. It is quite difficult to determine the freshness of the studied trace, this process can be called a whole art. All the secrets of this science further.
fox footprints
The fox is small, everyone famous predator, often it can be found in places where small rodents are found. The habitat for her are fields, river valleys and not dense forests. The hunter, for whom the fox is a valuable trophy, must first of all be able to identify its trace among the tracks of other predators. With the help of paw prints, foxes are counted.
The hunter especially often tracks the fox on winter days in the snow, for this reason the main attention should be paid to the study of traces of the alleged game. Examining carefully the prints of the red predator on fine snow, you can see that the pads of the two middle fingers of the paws protrude forward, and the prints left by the pads of the two extreme fingers are behind and cover the front tips of the claws from the barrels. To briefly characterize the traces of the chanterelle, it is worth noting that they represent a type of boat (see photo 1).
Fox tracks have a sign by which the tracker can easily determine which paw (front or back) they were left with. The front paws have a concave crumb, and on the hind legs it is convex. Traces of the paws of the fox 6.5 by 5 cm. The prints that can be seen on a straight track are arranged "as if on a thread." The stride length corresponds to 30 sometimes 40cm.
Carefully examining the traces of a fox, one can determine its behavior: jumps 3-4 m long, then an instant stop, throws at a right angle are often observed, first in one direction, then in the other. All this defines the fox as a dexterous, resourceful animal endowed with unique flexibility.
When the fox goes to the hay and during the rutting period, as well as while moving through those territories where there is no food, it moves without looping, thus leaving straight tracks. When a fox travels long distances, it moves at a trot. At this time, a doubling of an even chain of traces of a red cheat occurs, if you look closely, you can see two parallel rows of paw prints. In this case, one trace may slightly capture the edge of the other.
In order to quickly get to the intended place in winter through deep, loose, uncomfortable snow for running, the fox does not run, but simply jumps, the prints of four limbs remain at a distance of 1-2 m. During the pursuit of prey, the fox moves at an extended gallop.
While studying the traces of a red predator moving in deep snow, you conclude that they are most often connected by a continuous strip. Because of this, it is difficult to accurately determine the direction of the animal. But there is a second, rather simple way, using which knowledgeable people it is quite easy to find out in which direction any forest dwellers, the fox is also one of them. Experienced hunters-pathfinders recommend novice hunters to pay attention to blades of grass or twigs sticking out in the snow on the lines of traces. They leave dashes by which you can guess exactly which way the running animal has bent down, which means this will be its planned route.
What paw prints does a dog leave?
Fox footprints in the snow great resemblance with paw prints of a small dog. The hunter must learn to recognize the "handwriting" of foxes and mongrels. The paw prints left by a fox in the snow are much slimmer and neater than dog tracks. If you look at the traces of the pads of the two front and rear fingers, it becomes clear that a visual line can be drawn between them. In many dogs, the lateral toes wrap around the hind toes on the sides, going forward. In photo 2, you can see the tracks of a dog and a wolf.
Sometimes the tracks of some dogs are difficult to distinguish from the tracks of foxes. But there will be no doubt if you carefully examine the straight chain of holes and the surprisingly even distances between them, as well as the regular roundings on the front of the tracks. No dog is able to make such a drawing with very delicate lines. The fox has sharp claws, while the dog has worn ones.
wolf footprints
In the forest you can find many traces of forest animals. One of them is the wolf. It is impossible to take wolf tracks in the snow for foxes. Compared to fox paw prints, the handsome wolf leaves very large dents in the snow. The track of the wolf (see photo 3) is more similar to the track of a large mongrel.
During the movement of the wolf at a walk or trot, his right hind leg exactly hits the track left by the front left leg, respectively - the left hind leg into the track of the right front. Therefore, the traces of the wolf, laying down in a single line, resemble a rope. It should be noted that the observation winter time the way it moves snow cover wolf, very nice. On the background white snow this animal looks extremely beautiful.
Bear footprints in the snow
There is no person who does not know brown bear. It weighs 600-700kg. It lives in forests with ravines and swamps. There you can find his traces. They are quite easy to recognize among the many tracks of other animals. The prints of its front and hind paws are especially different, both in shape and in size. This is clearly seen in photo 4.
The front paws of a bear are 15 by 15 cm in size, and the hind legs are 25 by 14 cm. The claws of the bear on the front paws are noticeably longer than on the hind ones, and the support, on the contrary, of the hind paw is greater than the support of the front one. Depending on the speed at which the bear moves, the pattern of the chain of tracks changes. When the hind paws make an imprint on top of the front paws, the pattern is called "covered". If the hind paws make tracks ahead of the front ones, which indicates that the bear was moving quickly, the pattern of the tracks is called "overlapped".
Hare footprints in the snow
Meet in the forest different animals, big and small. If you don’t have to see them, then the tracks will definitely meet on the way, especially if you go into the forest in winter on fresh snow. It is easy to find traces of a bunny. It is not necessary to describe this animal. Hare - hare is known even to small children. His weight is quite small, about 3 - 5 kg. Not very long ears are black at the tips. Whole round tail white color. In summer, a hare-hare changes its pure white fur coat to a reddish-brown one.
The hare leaves traces (see photo 5), which are easy to distinguish from other animals, and you can meet them quite often. The habitat of hares is birch and aspen forests, often its traces are also found near rivers and lakes.
The footprints of this animal are two prints of the hind legs in front and two smaller prints of the front legs in the back, located one after the other. On average, the size of the footprint of the front paws is 8.5 by 5 cm, the hind legs are 12 by 8 cm. When a hare runs, frightened by a pursuer, its jump length is more than two meters; in a normal state, it leaves traces of a jump 120 - 170 cm long. The hare makes jumps that depend on the speed of movement.
Determination of the freshness of traces of foxes and other animals in the snow
A good hunter is one who is an excellent white trail tracker. This name was given by hunters to footprints in the snow. Determining when an animal was imprinted is a very difficult task. In this small article it is not possible to reveal all the subtleties of this complex science, but you can familiarize yourself with some of the principles. They will bring invaluable help in the early stages.
Fresh tracks left by fox, bear, hare, wolf and other inhabitants of the forest in winter are covered with sparkling snowflakes thrown out of the track hole. Some time passes and the traces begin to fade, harden under the influence of frost, the edges become less noticeable.
How fast these processes will take place depends on the place where the trace is found, as well as on weather conditions. If the tracks are in an open place, they will be noticed faster than those that are in a ravine. It's not hard to figure out when the trail is left if the time of the fall is known. last snow. For example, a small snowball fell at 9 o'clock in the morning, and at 11 o'clock they already saw a completely fresh imprint, it turns out that it was left two hours ago.
Experts in this matter give valuable advice: make comparisons between your fresh traces and those under investigation. If a slight difference is visible between them, this indicates that the traces are fresh. If you plan to go to the forest, in the evening it is recommended to go out into the yard and leave a print of your hand there. In the morning, looking at him, you can already know how in given state weather and snow should look like yesterday's trail.
/ Animal tracks. Field identifier
This manual allows you to identify the traces of the most common animals on the peninsula from photographs and drawings in winter. In addition, photographs of traces of birds of the grouse family - partridge and capercaillie are given. Designed for a wide range of nature lovers, employees natural parks and reserves, schoolchildren, students
Download determinant in PDF format
Kamchatka brown bear
Ursus arctos piscator Pucheran, 1855 (Kamchatka brown bear)
Easily recognizable footprints. Depending on the speed, the pattern of the chain of tracks may be “covered” (hind paws are imprinted on top of the front ones), if the animal moved slowly, or “overlapped” (hind paws are imprinted in front of the front ones) when moving fast.
The photo shows a bear's footprint in the sand, on the right in deep snow.
East Siberian lynx
Lynx lynx wrangeli Ognev, 1928 (East Siberian lynx)
The trace of the front paw is rounded, up to 9–12 cm long and wide, the hind paw is slightly narrower. Unlike a fox or a wolf, the trace chain is located in a broken line. On dense snow, the hind paw is placed exactly in the footprint of the front. The stride length at a calm pace is 20–30 cm. they are retractable. When moving at a gallop, the traces of four legs approach each other. In the photo - the hind paw of a lynx.
polar Wolf
Canis lupus albus Kerr, 1792 (Polar wolf)
The trail of a wolf looks like a dog's. The main difference is that his two middle fingers are pushed forward so that the back edge of their prints is at the level leading edge extreme finger prints. The traces of the hind feet are smaller and narrower than the front ones. With a calm course, the trail chain forms a straight line, while the hind legs exactly fall into the trace of the front ones. This is also characteristic of the movement of the flock, so that the number of animals can be determined only at the corners or at some object of interest to the flock. In the photo - prints of the front (above) and hind paws on dense snow.
Anadyr fox
Vulpes vulpes beringiana (Middendorf, 1875) (Anadyr red fox)
The footprint of a fox is similar to that of a small dog, but narrower and more graceful. Like the wolf, the prints of the middle fingers are strongly advanced forward. The trail chain with a calm step is straight, the prints of the hind paws are superimposed on the front ones (indoor track). The stride length is up to 30 cm. At a small trot, the imprint of the hind paw partially overlaps the front paw, with a wider imprint, the imprints are located separately, but not far from each other. On page 6 - a photo of fox tracks in deep snow and on sand when moving at a calm pace. On page 7 - a drawing of the footprint of the front (left) and hind legs.
Kamchatka sable
Martes zibellina camtschadalica (Birula, 1919) (Kamchatka sable)
Due to the strong pubescence of the paws of the sable from below, its traces are, as a rule, indistinct, blurry. Typically, a track on loose snow consists of a chain of paired tracks, the so-called two-step track (p. 8, photo on the left). On shallow snow, the animal moves with a three- or four-foot (p. 8, photo on the right). When running fast in deep loose snow, the tracks merge into a chain of oblong pits. The footprint is 7–10 cm long and 5–6 cm wide. Below - a photo of a sable track on dense snow (four-spot).
Kamchatka wolverine
Gulo gulo albus (Kerr, 1792) (Kamchatka wolverine)
The footprint is large, it can be confused with the footprint of a lynx or a young bear cub, from which it differs in clear imprints of five fingers and claws. Wolverine has very large feet, which allows her to move through deep snow without falling through. The track is usually straight. Like most mustelids, it prefers to move in a two-foot, three- or four-foot pattern (p. 10). The size of the trace is up to 18 cm long and up to 13 cm wide.
northern river otter
Lutra lutra lutra Linnaeus, 1758 (Northern river otter)
When the otter moves through the snow, a furrow, characteristic of the aquatic mustelids, remains, at the bottom of which covered tracks are imprinted. Sometimes there is a strip drawn by the heavy tail of the beast. The trail is zigzag. On ice, sand, the otter uses a four-figure. The size of the imprint of the front paw is 4–5 cm long and wide, the hind paw is 4–8 cm long and 4–6 cm (occasionally up to 13 cm) wide.
On page 12 on the left is a photo of an otter's track in deep snow, on the right is a trail of two tracks.
northern sea otter
Enhydra lutris lutris (Linnaeus, 1758) (Northern sea otter)
Usually the sea otter most spends time in the water, and if it gets ashore, it prefers rocky shores. However, there are times when powerful ice they simply drive the animals into the rivers, and then their traces can be found not only on the surf, but also in the nearest plantations. The track of the sea otter is very similar to the track of the otter (the same furrow, two beads), but differs much more large size. The track is zigzag. characteristic feature are the prints of the hind flipper paws (in the figure below).
american mink
Mustela vison Schreber, 1777 (American mink)
The trace chain of a mink on loose snow is characterized by the usual for mustelids two-step pattern. On sand or crust three- or four-beam. In deep snow, “broaches” from the hind legs often remain, which is why the chain of tracks looks like a continuous groove 8–10 cm wide. The length of the track is about 3 cm, the hasty step is 14–15 cm, the jump is from 25 to 40 cm.
East Siberian stoat
Mustela erminea kaneii (Baird, 1857) (East Siberian ermine)
Ermine tracks - a reduced copy of sable tracks, oblong, 1.5–2 cm wide. When moving, he uses a two-bead (p. 18, on the right), the length of the jump during a leisurely search move is 30–40 cm. while the jump reaches 41–46 cm (p. 18, left).
Siberian weasel
Mustela nivalis pygmaea J. Allen, 1903 (Siberian least weasel)
Weasel has the smallest traces of all representatives of mustelids and the smallest, the length of the jump is up to 25 cm (unlike the ermine, weasel is short-legged). Due to its low weight, the weasel almost does not fall through even on loose snow. The size of the trace is 1.5 cm long, 1–1.2 cm wide. When moving, he most often uses a two-pointer, at speed he switches to a four-pointer. The trace of a large weasel is similar to the trace of an ermine. They can be distinguished by the nature of the trace chain: the weasel moves in short wavy zigzags, while the ermine makes its characteristic turns at a right angle.
Yakut squirrel
Sciurus vulgaris jacutensis Ognev, 1929 (Yakutian red squirrel)
The squirrel mainly moves through the snow by jumping. Traces are arranged in pairs, while the posterior, more long paws imprinted in front of the short front ones. The pattern of a group of traces resembles a trapezoid. The size of the imprint of the front paw is 4x2 cm, the size of the hind paw is 6x3.5 cm. The length of the group of imprints is 12 cm.
Gizhigin hare
Lepus timidus gichiganus J. Allen, 1903 (Gizhiga blue hare)
The most easily distinguishable footprint: a pair of larger hindprints in front and two smaller front ones behind, one behind the other. The average size the imprint of the front paw is 8.5x5 cm, the hind one is 12x8 cm. The length of the jump is 120–170 cm, however, when the animal leaves the pursuit or when frightened, it can reach 220 cm. . On the left - a trace of the rear pair of legs on dense snow.
Moose buturlina
Alces americana buturlini Chernyavsky et Zheleznov, 1982 (Buturlin’s moos)
The largest mammal among the ungulates of Kamchatka. When moving through deep snow, it leaves behind a wide “trench”. The track of an adult bull is on average 15.8x12 cm, the hooves are narrow, pointed, able to move apart widely when walking on soft ground. The prints of the lateral fingers are well distinguishable even on hard ground. The stride length is from 72–75 cm (simple walk) to 70–78 cm (trot) and 187 cm (canter). The litter is brown, large, round in males and elongated, acorn-like in females.
Kamchatka reindeer
Rangifer tarandus phylarchus Hollister, 1912 (Kamchatka reindeer)
It differs from the traces of an elk in deep snow by the smaller size of the “trench”. As a rule, deer prefer open swamps, tundras, wastelands, hoof their food from under the snow, keep in herds or large groups, while the elk goes into the thicket, undergrowth, floodplains, eats branches, bark, always keeps in small groups or alone. The imprints of large deer hooves have a characteristic kidney-shaped shape, are strongly rounded, the imprints of low-set and wide-spaced lateral toes are visible behind. The length of the step at a slow pace is 50–82 cm. The litter is small dark “nuts”, pointed on one side.
Kamchatka snow sheep
Ovis nivicola nivicola Eschscholtz, 1829 (Kamchatka snow sheep)
Bighorn sheep tracks can be found mainly in mountainous areas (the lower limit of its habitat ranges from 1000 to 1200 m) and on seaside terraces. In coastal areas (Kronotsky Peninsula, Cape Shipunsky, Cape Nalycheva, etc.), animals often descend to the surf. The track of the male is up to 6–9 cm long, the step is up to 35–40 cm. The track consists of hoof prints, hind hoof prints are usually absent.
voles
Clethrionomys (Vole)
Moving in jumps, they leave holes in the snow, at the bottom of which traces of paws are visible, behind - a dash from the tail (photo below). When running, the trail consists of two continuous rows of prints, reminiscent of a weasel trace in miniature (photo above).
Kamchatka stone capercaillie
Tetrao parvirostris kamtschaticus Kittlitz, 1858 (Kamchatka black-billed capercaillie)
The capercaillie, like the partridge, has a chicken type of traces. The length of paw prints is 10–11 cm, in capercaillie - up to 8 cm. The lateral front fingers are slightly shorter than the average. The back toe leaves an imprint up to 3 cm long from the heel. The track is a straight line. It feeds on buds and twigs of birch trees, berries, needles, so they are more common in forest plantations.
partridges
Lagopus (Ptarmigan)
Traces of partridges can be found in the thickets of willow, alder, along the floodplains, where they feed on buds. The prints of the lateral front fingers are located almost at a right angle relative to each other (chicken type of traces). The step is short, 9–12 cm. The size of the track is 4.5x5–6 cm. On loose deep snow, the track looks like an openwork chain. At the top right - a partridge roosting place, at the bottom - two trace chains on dense snow. Take-off trace (imprints of the bird's wings are clearly visible).
Literature:
- Gudkov V.M. Traces of animals and birds. Encyclopedic reference guide. M., Veche, 2008
- Doleysh K. Traces of animals and birds. M., Agropromizdat, 1987
- Catalog of vertebrates of Kamchatka and adjacent marine areas. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, 2000
- Lasukov R. Animals and their traces. M., Forest Country, 2009
- Oshmarin P.G., Pikunov D.G. Footprints in nature. M., Science, 1990
- Pikunov D.G., Mikull D.G. etc. Traces of wild animals Far East. Vladivostok, Dalnauka, 2004
- Formozov A.N. Pathfinder Companion. M., Moscow University, 1989
- Ian Sheldon, Tamara Hartson Animal Tracks of Alaska. Lone Pine 1999
And again, winter reigns outside the window, the long-awaited snow has fallen, which means it's time to talk about the ability to recognize animal tracks, determine their freshness and significance for hunting.
Traces of animals left by them in the snow, mud or grass are essential for hunting: they follow and lay down the animal, recognize their number, gender, age, and also whether the animal was injured and even the degree of its injury.
As a rule, wild animals lead a very secretive lifestyle. Thanks to a well-developed sense of smell, hearing and vision, animals and birds notice a person much earlier than he does them, and if they do not immediately run away or fly away, then they hide, and their behavior becomes atypical. To unravel the secrets of the life of animals, the observer is helped by the traces of vital activity left by them, by which they mean not only the prints of the limbs, but also all the changes made by the animal to environment.
In order to correctly interpret the detected trace, it is necessary to know who it belongs to, how long ago it was left by the animal, where the animal was heading, as well as the ways of its movement.
How to learn to recognize animal tracks? To determine the freshness of a trail, it is necessary to link together several factors: the biology of the animal, the state of the weather as in this moment, and a few hours before, as well as other information. For example, the trace of an elk found in the morning, not powdered with snow that fell the day before from the second half of the day until the evening, indicates that it is nocturnal.
The freshness of the trail can be determined by touch. In frost, in dry snow, a fresh track does not differ in looseness from the surface of the surrounding snow. After some time, the walls of the trace harden, and the stronger, the lower the temperature, the trace “hardens”. Any other trace left big beast, becomes more rigid with time, and the more time passes since the formation of the trace, the more rigid it becomes. Traces of small animals left on the surface of deep snow do not harden. It is important to find out whether the beast has been here since the evening or passed an hour ago. If the track is old, more than a day old, then it is useless to look for the animal that left it, because it is already far away, out of reach. If the trace left is fresh, then the beast may be somewhere nearby. To determine the direction of movement of an animal, one must know the peculiarities of the positioning of the limbs of different animals. Looking closely at a single track of a large animal left in loose deep snow, one can notice the difference between the walls of the track along the path of the animal.
On the one hand they are more gentle, on the other more abruptly. These differences arise because the animals lower their limbs (leg, paw) gently, and take them out of the snow almost vertically upwards. These differences are called: dragging - back wall and dragged out - the front wall of the track. The drag is always longer than the drag, which means that the animal moved in the direction in which the short, that is, steeper walls of the track are directed. When the animal takes out the leg, it presses on the anterior wall, compacting it, while the posterior wall is not deformed. Sometimes, in order to accurately determine the direction of the movement of the animal, it is necessary to rush it, observing the handwriting of the trail.
The gait of the animal, or the gait of its movement, is reduced to two types: slow or moderately fast movement (step, trot, amble) and fast running in successive jumps (gallop, quarry).
Animals with an elongated body and short limbs most often move at a moderate gallop. They are simultaneously repelled by the hind limbs and fall exactly into the imprints of the forelimbs. The legacy with such a gait is paired prints of only the hind limbs (most mustelids).
Sometimes, at a slow gallop, one or both hind paws does not reach the prints of the front paws, and then groups of tracks of three and four prints appear, called three- and four-foot prints. Less commonly, long-bodied and short-legged animals go to the quarry, and then in a jump they put their hind legs in front of their front ones, and therefore the prints of their hind legs are ahead of their front ones (hares, squirrels).
To determine the freshness of the trace, you need to divide the trace with a thin branch. If the trace is easily divided, then it is fresh, if it does not divide, it is old, more than a day old.
The footprint of an animal looks different not only in connection with the gaits of the animals, but also in connection with the state of the soil on which the animals move. The trace also changes depending on the hardness or softness of the soil. Ungulates, when moving calmly on solid ground, leave prints of two hooves. These same animals, when running and jumping on soft ground, leave prints of four hooves. Having five toes on their front paws, the otter and beaver leave a four-toed footprint on soft ground. Traces also change with the age of animals. In older animals, the tracks are larger and somewhat different in shape. For example, piglets rely on two fingers, and their parents on four. Adult dogs rely on four toes, and their puppies on five. The prints of the tracks of males and females are also different, but only experienced trackers can catch their differences. As the seasons change, so does the footprints of animals, as the paws of some of them become rough. long hair, which facilitates movement on loose snow (marten, lynx, white hare, fox, etc.).
Various forms(types) of footprints:
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How to learn to identify and distinguish between traces of animals? How to distinguish, for example, the footprint of a wolf from the footprint of an ordinary dog, or the footprint of a white hare from a hare? How to learn to track the beast on the trail? Read all about it below! A visual aid for determining the traces of animals with descriptions and pictures.
bear trail(especially hind paws), similar to a human footprint (with the exception of claw prints). The track of the male is slightly wider than the track of the bear, and therefore an experienced hunter can easily distinguish the sex of the past animal. The place where the bear passed can also be seen in summer, because the beast strongly crushes and tilts the grass in the direction of movement. In addition, in the summer, a bear will never pass indifferently past anthills, stones, snags, etc., but will surely stir them up or turn them over.
Bear footprint
wolf footprints resemble the tracks of a large dog, but as the wolf grips his fingers tighter, Bottom part his fingers are more convex, and the track is therefore more elongated and more clearly imprinted on mud or snow. The main difference is that the track of the wolf is correct, and its direction is straightforward. The animal walks in such a way that it gets into the imprint of the right front foot of the back left and vice versa, so the tracks stretch in a row, each such track is about 30-35 cm apart from the other (depending on the depth of snow and the age of the animal). If there is a pack, then those who follow the first animal step “trail to trail”, so you can find out about the number of wolves in the pack when the pack enters the forest.
The freshness of the trail (if only there was no powder) can be recognized by the looseness of the snow, pressed down by the feet of the beast that has gone; if the track is old, then it and its edges freeze and become hard to the touch. A fresh track has a so-called "drag" - a thin line between the tracks, which disappears after a few hours (it appears because the wolf drags its hind legs a little on loose snow). The wolf rarely walks at a walk, but usually at a small trot. Such a tread of the beast seems wrong, but, despite this, the wolf paves the most correct trail with it. If the wolf jumps (“waving”), then the trail of the hind paw is about three fingers away from the corresponding front one.
Wolf footprint on the ground (top) and snow (bottom)
A wolf track can be easily distinguished from a dog track if the track is fairly clear. In a wolf, the two middle fingers are located much further than the outer ones (when compared with the track of a dog). The extreme and middle fingers can be separated by an imaginary line, and this line will not cross the prints of the extreme fingers.
difference between wolf and dog tracks
comparison of wolf and dog tracks
Narysk fox resembles the footprint of a medium-sized dog, but the differences are also in the correctness of the tread and the tightness of the paw. Usually the fox walks in one line and, like the wolf, lays the correct ribbon. The beast walks on fattening and in two very regular tracks, it can also quadruple like a dog. The fox never makes trails, and if he walks certain place several days in a row, then every time it neatly gets back to its original track. In addition, if she goes back in the same place, she rarely follows her oncoming trail, but tries to choose a different path.
The fox quite often makes loops, like a hare, but unlike the latter, it never makes marks. On the bed, she turns her head in the direction from which she came. It happens that the beast hides its traces in a hare malik. Experienced hunters they are able to distinguish between the tracks of a male and a female - the track of the male is round and clean, while the female is oblong, narrow and not so clean, since the female usually picks up snow with her hind legs - scribbles.
fox footprint
lynx trail always has only one invariable direction and is very similar to a cat - it is round, with distinct fingerprints; however, the claws are imprinted only in the case of the fastest run.
lynx trail
Elk footprint larger than a deer, besides, the cuts of the hooves diverge more strongly. The elk always puts its feet straight and never "furrows". Its litter resembles that of a deer and consists of large, slightly oblong shaves (but they are slightly rounder than those of a deer), which usually stick together in males and fall apart in females. A bull's footprint is always rounder and larger than a moose cow's footprint.
moose footprint
boar trail resembles the footprint of a domestic pig, only sharper than the latter. With its outlines, it resembles a footprint red deer(especially if the trace was left by the old billhook). The difference between the boar track is that the hind adnexal fingers diverge in the form of grouse braids. They are wider than the track itself, imprinted together with the hooves without gaps, and the distance between the tracks is less. The track of the male differs from that of the female - in the wild boar, the adnexal toes are larger, and the hooves are blunter and the same on any leg. In pigs, the hooves differ greatly in size from one another, and, in addition, the footprint of a wild boar is wider than that of a pig, since on the move it brings its legs more to the sides. The age of the animal can also be determined by the size and depth of the footprint.
Wild boar footprints in the snow
: (left), otters (center) and martens (right)
POWDER
Powders are called snow that fell at night and ended in the morning. Therefore, only fresh tracks of animals that have been fattening at night are visible in the snow, which greatly simplifies their tracking. Real powders in middle lane Russia usually comes not earlier than the beginning of November. Powder is considered good if the snow is so deep that the footprint is clearly marked on it (and at the same time the track is continuous, that is, there are no large bare spaces.
The first powder is always formed by snowfall, the next ones can be the result of a blowing snow. Therefore, powders are top and bottom (alien). But most often the powder is formed by the simultaneous fall of snow and drifting snow. Powders by depth are divided into fine, deep and dead. Small - if the prints of the front paws of the hare are pressed no deeper than the lower joint; deep - if snow falls 10 to 15 centimeters deep, dead - when warm wet snow falls in an even layer 15-20 centimeters thick. The printed one is called powder, when each claw of the animal's paw is clearly printed on the snow. Such powder occurs when shallow melting snow falls (warm powder).
Warm powder is not spoiled by the wind and therefore (if it does not stop melting) is the longest, since after warm powder you can look for fresh traces that are very different from the blurred old ones for two or three or even more days.
According to the duration of the night snowfall, the powder is long and short. Long powder is snow that quickly stopped, and therefore the beast managed to inherit a lot. Conversely, a short powder is a short trail because it has been snowing all night or even continues to fall. Deep (and especially dead powder) will certainly be short, because the beast (especially the hare) by necessity always wanders a little. Regarding the noise that the hunter makes when approaching, the powder can be soft (in warm weather) and hard (in frosty weather, when the snow is loose). Hard powder is always inconvenient to approach, because the noise made by the hunter frightens the beast far away.
Powder, good in the morning, can be spoiled or destroyed by snowfall or drifting snow. In general, after a strong snowstorm, that tracking is rarely successful. In addition, it must be borne in mind that the grassroots powder can only be open places, therefore, on the edge and forest clearings under the wind, the search for fresh tracks is very difficult. On the contrary, if the snow continues to sweep, then the traces in the field will be noticeable, and under the forest they are very clearly visible. There is almost always wind in the steppes, and therefore during the day the powder usually always spoils there (an exception is warm weather).
Traveling powder is such a powder when dry, like fluff, snow falls on the frozen ground and does not give a stop to the paws for the dog while running. A dog with such powder glides and runs over the frozen ground, as if on ice. Powder is very important when hunting for an animal, especially for a hare, also for rifle hunters. They can track the beast on skis throughout the winter.
MALIK
Malik is the whole path of a hare, marked in the snow during the night, from his bed, where he spent the day, to the place of fattening (the place where the hare fed), and back to the lair. Ability to recognize various hare footprints, is very important especially for those hunters who plan to hunt a hare by trailing.
Tracking the whites is quite difficult, and therefore the hare are more often "trailed". It is difficult to see a hare in the winter on the bed, besides, it confuses the moves very much and often lies down in a “strong” place. In addition, hare trailing is a very tedious task. He greatly confuses his moves, fills the paths, runs into the tracks of other whites, circles a lot and makes loops. Therefore, in areas where both hare and hare are found, it is very important to be able to distinguish them along the trail, which is given quite quickly.
From left to right: trace of a white hare, trace of a hare on the crust, trace of a hare, trace of a hare on the crust
The hare that lives in the forest, where the snow is a little looser than in the field, has wider and rounder paws, fingers spread wider, and the beast leaves footprints in the snow that resemble a circle in outline; the hare has an oval footprint. When the snow is not as loose (with printing powder), individual fingerprints show up. But in the hare, the traces of the hind legs are still slightly wider than in the hare. More elongated and parallel to each other and slightly ahead of each other, the traces of the hare belong to the hind legs, and similar in shape to a circle and going one after the other, along the line - to the front legs.
From left to right: end tracks, end tracks with discounts, fat tracks, chasing tracks, jumping chasing tracks
A sitting hare leaves another trail. The imprints of the front paws are located almost together, and the traces of the hind paws lose their mutual parallelism. Since the animal, when sitting, bends its hind legs to the first joint, then in the snow, in addition to the legs, the entire groove is also printed. (In the figure below, the prints of the hind feet with grooves are shaded.) If this case is excluded (when the hare is sitting), then the tracks of the hind feet always remain parallel to each other, and if tracks are seen in which the prints of the hind feet go apart (i.e. clubfoot ), then these are not hare tracks, but cats, dogs or foxes when they go in jumps. The same can be said about the track, in which one hind leg is significantly ahead of the other.
footprint of a sitting hare
The normal trail of a hare is big jumps. At the same time, the animal takes out its hind legs almost simultaneously, and puts its front legs one after the other. Only when the jumps are very large, the hare puts the front paws almost together. The usual traces of a hare are called terminal, since with such measured jumps he goes to the fattening and returns from it. The difference between the fat traces and the terminal ones is that the paw prints are not much apart from each other, and the individual traces practically merge. Such traces are called fat because the animals leave them where they feed, moving slowly and often sitting down. Discount (in other words - estimating traces) the hare leaves with large jumps, which he makes at an angle to the original direction of movement.
With discount tracks, the hare tries to hide, interrupt his own track, before he decides to lie down. Usually there are one or three "discounts", occasionally four, after which the usual, end tracks go again. As a rule, before making a discount, the hare doubles its tracks. The hare's discount jumps differ from the end tracks by the distance between the tracks, and also by the fact that the prints of the front paws are located together. The hare makes racing (whip) tracks when he is frightened away from the lair - and then the beast goes with big jumps. Race tracks are very similar to discount or end tracks (only in the opposite direction), since the prints of the front paws are closer to the prints of the hind legs of the previous, and not the same jump.
hare noose
From the place where the hare sat before dusk, the malik usually begins with fatty traces, which then turn into trailers. They sometimes go straight to the fats, where the hare always moves in small “steps”, often stops and sits down. Having fed, the hare sometimes runs and plays, and chasing tracks immediately come across. Having run over, the animal feeds again, or already at dawn it goes with fat end tracks to a new lair. Before choosing a safe place to lie, the hare begins to dodge, again crossing its previous tracks. Sometimes such loops occupy large areas. At point A, it is rarely possible to say with certainty, without turning the loops, that the tracks belong to the convergent malik or another hare passed here.
Rarely there are more than two loops. After them, “twos” and “triples” begin (doubling or building a trace). In this case, the tracks can overlap each other, and here the skill and ability to distinguish a double track from a regular one is necessary. After the “two”, the hare most often makes a discount to the side, but after the “troika” (rarely encountered), there are usually no marks, and the beast jumps further a decent distance. Usually, in a hare, “twos” and “threes” are seen along roads or crests of ravines, where, as a rule, there is little snow, and at the beginning of winter, in meadows, in hollows and on recently frozen rivers and streams. The length of the "twos" is not constant and can vary from five to one hundred and fifty steps. “Twos” indicate the proximity of the haul, and if a hare after a “two” with a discount goes a decent distance, changing the discount tracks to the end ones, then this is usually an exceptional case.
"Threes" are usually not very long and the direction of the trail after them usually does not change (and very rarely they are followed by a discount). Almost always, the hare "takes off" at right angles to the direction of movement; after several discount jumps, there are several trailer jumps and again the second "two" with discounts. Quite often, Russians are limited to only two "twos", but there are maliks, where the number of "twos" reaches eight or more.
Animal tracks for children is one of the lessons in which we tried to combine several developmental areas: zoology, creativity, and even reading and logic. It can be a one-time lesson for an hour or a cycle of lessons "Traces of animals for children" - it's up to you.
Such activities will definitely interest both the child and the adult! It could be grants different kind, the main requirement for them is the ability to attract the attention of kids.
Lesson on the study of animal tracks:
You can conduct an interesting lesson in which to introduce the kids closer to, and also find out what traces each of these animals leaves on earth. If you are studying winter footprints tell your child about winter.
Learning about animals and their footprints helps little ones delve deeper into the natural world. You can tell how some animals have learned to hide their tracks and confuse them; as in the footsteps of experienced hunters looking for their prey. Argue with little naturalists, in which case, at what time of the year the traces are more noticeable. Children, understanding the importance of knowing animal tracks for an animal or a person in the forest, acquire a desire to study them.
Animal tracks for children become interesting if it is possible to compare the image of an animal and the pattern of its tracks. We provide children with such an opportunity using colorful cards. Little trackers are happy to compare photos of animals, plates with their names and footprints. With smaller children, you can compare the size of the tracks and their owners: a small footprint - a small paw - a small animal.
Cards with animals and their footprints:
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Animal tracks (video):
For our youngest readers, we found the cartoon "Who left the mark?".
Animal footprints for kids reviews:
It turns out to be very interesting for children to guess who left what trace!