Tracking - Midterm Flashcards
What is the “WIDTH” of a track?
- measured by the broadest point of the track
What is the “LENGTH” of a track?
- measured from the leading edge of the toe pad to the trailing point of the print (claws NOT included)
What is the “STRIDE”?
- distance from where one foot print appears to the next by the same foot
What is “STRADDLE”?
- perpendicular to the line of travel at the widest point of the trail or group pattern
What is “GROUP MEASUREMENTS”?
- when the animal speeds up, pattern changes.. widest measurement of a group of prints
What is “INTERGROUP MEASUREMENTS”?
- distance between the groups of prints
Which feet are generally larger, front or hind?
- FRONT
Key characteristics of tracks belonging to the dog family.
- NON retractive claws normally seen in track
- 4 toes
- Shape is longer than wide, appears rectangular
- Single lobe on anterior side (top) of the planter pad (middle)
How do you distinguish between a wolf and a coyote track?
- Size (Wolf 4.5 in wide, coyote 2.5in wide)
- Coyote outer toes bigger than middle toes
- May be able to tell by hip to shoulder length stride
Key characteristics of tracks belonging to the cat family.
- RETRACTIVE claws, not normally seen in tracks (sometimes when running)
- 4 toes
- Overall shape, wider than long (appear round)
- Planter pad has 2 lobes anteriorly and 3 lobes posteriorly
- Common gate is the walk, short bursts of running
How do you distinguish between a lynx and a cougar?
- Lynx have much larger front paws, and many times can not distinguish front prints due to so much fur
- Cougar has clear, robust prints, wider than long
Key characteristics of tracks belonging to the bear family.
- 5 toes on each foot, smallest toe on inside may not show
- Claws often show in black bears, usually in grizzly’s, and not often in polar bears
- Hind foot larger and distinctively different to front
- Metatarsal pad forms distinct heal on hind foot giving rectangular, human shaped foot
- Front foot is square like and intermediate pad is followed by metacarpal pad
- Gait usually walk
How do you distinguish between a black bear and a grizzly bear?
- Size, black bear smaller
- Often claws do not show on black bear but do on grizzly
- Greater arch in toes of black bear, and joining of toes in grizzly bear
Key characteristics of the weasel family
- 5 toes on both front and hind feet
- Well developed claws often showing in print
- Spacing between toes generally 1 - 3 - 1
- Planter pad making inverted v
What is different about the gait of the weasel family?
- Toes are at an angle, run sideways
- Hind feet leap into front prints
Key characteristics of ungulates
- “even toed” 2 toes
- Bison: bean shaped, very rounded
- Caribou: also bean shaped, and rounded shape, hind print tends to register over the front prints
- Moose: teardrop shape, close together, pointed tips
- Elk: similar to moose, slightly more round in shape, often drag marks
- Deer: similar to elk, but smaller in size
What else can be used to distinguish between the order artiodactyla other than tracks? (2)
- Stride length (distance from hip to shoulder)
- Scat
How do you distinguish scat from the DOG family?
- bound together (cohesive unit)
- long wispy tails at the ends
- wild dog has lots of hair in scat
How do you distinguish scat from the CAT family?
- rounded, individual segments
- NO long wispy tails
- often burried
How do you distinguish scat from the WEASEL family?
- oily and twisted
- dark black
- often on top of rocks
How do you distinguish scat from the UNGULATE family? (moose, elk, deer, bison)
- oval to rounded shape
- deer is shaped like hershey’s kiss, flat on one side, pointed on the other
- moose is very large
