Traces of birds and animals in the snow in winter. Pictures of wild animal tracks for children. Animal tracks for children reviews
/ Animal tracks. Field guide
This manual allows you to use photographs and drawings to identify in winter the traces of the most frequently encountered animals on the peninsula. In addition, there are photographs of traces of birds of the grouse family - partridge and wood grouse. Intended for a wide range of nature lovers, employees of natural parks and reserves, schoolchildren, students
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Kamchatka brown bear
Ursus arctos piscator Pucheran, 1855 (Kamchatka brown bear)
Easily recognizable marks. Depending on the speed of the animal's movement, the pattern of the chain of tracks can be “covered” (the hind paws are imprinted on top of the front ones) if the animal was moving slowly, or “covered” (the hind paws are imprinted in front of the front ones) when moving quickly.
In the photo there is 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 mark of the front paw is rounded, up to 9–12 cm in length and width, the hind paw is slightly narrower. Unlike a fox or a wolf, the trail chain is located in a broken line. On dense snow, the hind paw is placed exactly in the footprint of the front paw. The length of the step at a quiet pace is 20–30 cm. There are no claw marks, because they are retractable. When galloping, the tracks of the four legs move closer together. The photo shows the back paw of a lynx.
polar wolf
Canis lupus albus Kerr, 1792 (Polar wolf)
A wolf's track looks similar to a dog's. The main difference is that his two middle fingers are pushed forward so that the back edge of their prints is level with leading edge extreme fingerprints. The tracks of the hind paws are smaller and narrower than the front paws. During a calm walk, the trail chain forms a straight line, with the hind paws exactly falling into the footprint of the front paws. This is also typical when a flock moves, so the number of animals can only be determined at turns or near some object that interests the flock. The photo shows 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 pushed forward. The trail chain with a calm step is straight, the prints of the hind paws are superimposed on the front ones (covered trail). The stride length is up to 30 cm. With a shallow trot, the print of the hind paw partially overlaps the front one; with a wider trot, the prints are located separately, but not far from each other. On page 6 - a photo of fox tracks in deep snow and sand while moving at a calm pace. On page 7 - a drawing of the track of the front (left) and hind paws.
Kamchatka sable
Martes zibellina camtschadalica (Birula, 1919) (Kamchatka sable)
Due to the strong hairiness of the sable's paws below, its traces are usually indistinct and blurred. Typically, a track on loose snow consists of a chain of paired tracks, the so-called two-beam (page 8, photo on the left). In shallow snow, the animal moves with a three- or four-foot pattern (page 8, photo on the right). When running fast through deep, loose snow, the tracks merge into a chain of elongated holes. The footprint is 7–10 cm long and 5–6 cm wide. Below is a photo of a sable track on dense snow (four-bead).
Kamchatka wolverine
Gulo gulo albus (Kerr, 1792) (Kamchatka wolverine)
The footprint is large and can be confused with that of a lynx or a young bear cub, from which it differs in the clear prints of five fingers and claws. Wolverine has very large feet, which allows her to move through deep snow without falling through. The trail is usually straight. Like most mustelids, it prefers to move in a two-, three- or four-legged manner (p. 10). The footprint size is up to 18 cm in length and up to 13 cm in width.
Northern river otter
Lutra lutra lutra Linnaeus, 1758 (Northern river otter)
When an otter moves through the snow, it leaves a furrow characteristic of aquatic mustelids, on the bottom of which covered tracks are imprinted. Sometimes there is a stripe drawn by the heavy tail of the animal. The trail is zigzag. On ice and sand, the otter uses a four-bead pattern. The size of the front paw print is 4–5 cm in length and width, the back one is 4–8 cm in length and 4–6 cm (occasionally up to 13 cm) in width.
On page 12, on the left is a photo of an otter track in deep snow, on the right is a trail of two tracks.
Northern sea otter
Enhydra lutris lutris (Linnaeus, 1758) (Northern sea otter)
As a rule, sea otters spend most of their time in the water, and if they go ashore, they prefer rocky shores. However, there are times when in winter powerful ice simply drives animals into rivers, and then their traces can be found not only on the surf strip, but also in nearby plantings. The track of a sea otter is very similar to that of an otter (the same furrow, double-beaded), but differs in much larger sizes. The trail of tracks is zigzag. A characteristic feature are the prints of the hind flipper-like paws (in the picture below).
American mink
Mustela vison Schreber, 1777 (American mink)
The trail chain of a burrow on loose snow is characterized by the usual two-bead pattern for mustelids. 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 approximately 3 cm, a hasty step is 14–15 cm, and a jump is from 25 to 40 cm.
East Siberian stoat
Mustela erminea kaneii (Baird, 1857) (East Siberian ermine)
The tracks of an ermine are a smaller copy of the tracks of a sable, oblong, 1.5–2 cm wide. When moving, it uses a two-bead pattern (page 18, right), the length of the jump during a leisurely search move is 30–40 cm. At speed it switches to a three- or four-bead pattern, in this case, the jump reaches 41–46 cm (page 18, left).
Siberian weasel
Mustela nivalis pygmaea J. Allen, 1903 (Siberian least weasel)
The weasel has the smallest footprints of all representatives of the mustelids and the smallest jump length - up to 25 cm (unlike the ermine, the weasel is short-legged). Due to its low weight, the weasel almost does not fall through even on loose snow. The footprint is 1.5 cm long, 1–1.2 cm wide. When moving, he most often uses a two-bead pattern, but at speed he switches to a four-bead pattern. The track of a large weasel is similar to that of an ermine. They can be distinguished by the nature of the trail chain: the weasel moves in short, wave-like zigzags, while the ermine makes its characteristic turns at right angles.
Yakut squirrel
Sciurus vulgaris jacutensis Ognev, 1929 (Yakutian red squirrel)
The squirrel mainly moves through the snow by jumping. The tracks are arranged in pairs, with the longer hind legs imprinted in front of the short front ones. The pattern of a group of footprints resembles a trapezoid. The size of the front paw print is 4x2 cm, the back one is 6x3.5 cm. The length of the group of prints is 12 cm.
Gizhiga hare
Lepus timidus gichiganus J. Allen, 1903 (Gizhiga blue hare)
The most easily distinguishable print is a pair of larger hind paw prints in front and two smaller front paw prints behind each other. The average size of the print of the front paw is 8.5x5 cm, the back - 12x8 cm. The length of the jump is 120–170 cm, however, when the animal escapes from pursuit or when frightened, it can reach 220 cm. On page 22, at the top right - the hare's dams, below - hole. On the left is the trace of a hind pair of feet 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 footprint of an adult bull is on average 15.8 x 12 cm, the hooves are narrow, pointed, and capable of spreading widely when walking on soft ground. Side toe prints are clearly visible even on hard soil. The stride length ranges from 72–75 cm (easy walk) to 70–78 cm (trot) and 187 cm (gallop). The litter is brown, large, round in males and elongated, acorn-shaped in females.
Kamchatka reindeer
Rangifer tarandus phylarchus Hollister, 1912 (Kamchatka reindeer)
It differs from elk tracks in deep snow in that the “trench” is smaller. As a rule, deer prefer open swamps, tundras, wastelands, eat food from under the snow, stay in herds or large groups, while elk go into thickets, small forests, floodplains, eat branches, bark, always stay in small groups or alone . The prints of large deer hooves have a characteristic kidney-shaped shape, are strongly rounded, and the prints of low-lying and widely spaced lateral toes are visible from behind. The length of the step at a slow pace is 50–82 cm. The droppings are small dark “nuts”, pointed on one side.
Kamchatka bighorn 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 coastal terraces. In coastal areas (Kronotsky Peninsula, Cape Shipunsky, Cape Nalycheva, etc.), animals often descend onto the surf strip. The male's footprint is up to 6–9 cm in length, the step is up to 35–40 cm. The footprint consists of hoof prints; prints of the hind hooves are usually absent.
voles
Clethrionomys (Vole)
Moving in jumps, they leave holes in the snow, at the bottom of which there are traces of paws, and at the back there is a line from the tail (photo below). When running, the track consists of two continuous rows of prints, reminiscent of a miniature weasel track (photo above).
Kamchatka stone grouse
Tetrao parvirostris kamtschaticus Kittlitz, 1858 (Kamchatka black-billed capercaillie)
The capercaillie, like the partridge, has a chicken type of tracks. The length of the paw prints is 10–11 cm, in the capercaillie - up to 8 cm. The lateral front toes are slightly shorter than the middle one. The back toe leaves an impression up to 3 cm long from the heel. The trail is a straight line. It feeds on buds and twigs of birch trees, berries, and pine needles, so they are more often found in forest plantations.
Partridges
Lagopus (Ptarmigan)
Traces of partridges can be found in thickets of willow, alder, and along floodplains, where they feed on buds. The prints of the lateral front fingers relative to each other are located almost at a right angle (chicken type of prints). The step is short, 9–12 cm. The size of the footprint is 4.5x5–6 cm. On loose, deep snow, the trail looks like an openwork chain. At the top right is a partridge's roosting area, at the bottom are two trail chains on dense snow. Take-off trail (prints of the bird's wings are clearly visible).
Literature:
- Gudkov V.M. Traces of animals and birds. Encyclopedic reference guide. M., Veche, 2008
- Doleish 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. Traces in nature. M., Nauka, 1990
- Pikunov D.G., Mikull D.G. and others. Traces of wild animals of the Far East. Vladivostok, Dalnauka, 2004
- Formozov A.N. Pathfinder's Companion. M., Moscow University, 1989
- Ian Sheldon, Tamara Hartson. Animal Tracks of Alaska. Lone Pine, 1999
PART 1
TRACES ON THE SNOW TRAIL
TRACES OF ELK, DEER, ROE DEER, MUSK DEER AND BOAR
(elk, reindeer, Caucasian deer, red deer and wapiti, sika deer, roe deer, musk deer, wild boar, aurochs and chamois)
Elk
About 60 years ago, this large ungulate was close to complete destruction, but careful protection yielded remarkable results - now the elk has become one of the most common and numerous animals in the country's forest belt. Even in such a densely populated industrial region as Moscow, there are several thousand moose. From large forest areas, moose began to spread to the south and now often appear in the fields and copses of Ryazan, Oryol, Saratov, Orenburg and other regions; from Western Siberia they make their way to the forest-steppe and steppe of Kazakhstan. In a number of regions, there are so many moose that in some places they are destroying young pine trees in plantations and preventing the regeneration of forests in burnt areas and clearings.
In many areas, regulated moose hunting is now permitted (with special orders - licenses); In the reserves, work is underway to domesticate this valuable animal and study its biology.
It is enough to drive 40-50 km from Moscow to get to lands where there are already many traces of moose. The moose themselves often run into dacha villages and even on the outskirts of Moscow.
Rice. 74. Imprint of the right pair of legs of a female moose (strongly intelligent)
The hind leg completely covered the footprint of the front leg. Kostroma region
The sharp hooves of a heavy, tall elk leave noticeable tracks not only in winter, but also along the black trail. They are significantly larger than the tracks of a domestic cow; The elk's stride is much longer. Like all ungulates, male moose are larger than females, and their hoof prints are less sharp and more rounded than the elongated tracks of elk. In winter grazing and resting areas, elk leave large piles of droppings - dozens of large, brownish-brown, hard “nuts.” These heaps remain for a long time, and often in the summer months they can be used to determine the places of winter camps or migrations of elk. If the hoof prints in deep snow are not clear enough, the sex of the animal is determined by the shape of the nuts: in the male they are almost round, in the female they are elongated, reminiscent of an acorn.
Rice. 75. Track of a bull moose (above) and a cow moose (below)
1 - at a slow pace, 2 - at a trot, 3 - at a gallop
Elk do not form large herds and usually stay in groups of 3-5, rarely 8-10 animals. In the summer, they feed on succulent herbaceous plants (fireweed, meadowsweet, horsetail, bear's flute and some other umbelliferae) and pluck leaves from young trees and shrubs; in winter they feed mainly on branches and, to a lesser extent, on the bark of deciduous trees (aspen, willow, elm, etc.).
O.I. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky published a very interesting article about the biology of moose on the Kola Peninsula. Almost all of his observations were collected using the tracking method through a careful study of many daily movements of moose. We use some of the findings from this work that are relevant to tracking.
When grazing in the fall, elk make quite long journeys (on average 5-6 km per day). In winter, with deep snow and especially when crust appears, the mobility of the elk is reduced. On Kola Peninsula in March with a snow height of 65-70 cm diurnal cycle moose is only 0.7-0.9 km. For most of the day, the elk lies in the snow, chewing its cud; number of beds from 4 to 10 per day (less in autumn, more in spring); Calves lie down to rest more often than adults.
When settling down to rest, the elk does not hoof the snow at all, but simply crushes it with the weight of its body, while the roe deer and deer clear the bed down to the ground or forest floor, often choosing places under coniferous trees, where the snow cover is especially thin.
In winter, an adult moose eats about 7-9 kg of twig food per day, preferring shoots of willow, rowan, and aspen, but does not avoid coniferous species. Thus, it willingly eats thin branches and tops of pine, fir, and juniper along with needles. Koru with large trees The elk scrapes with the incisors of the lower jaw, leaving quite wide grooves on the trunk - traces of chisel-shaped teeth. He uses this food from autumn to spring, but at a relatively warm weather. (The bark, strongly hardened in the cold, does not lend itself well to his teeth.)
Rice. 76. Moose droppings: on the left - a male, on the right - a female (e.v.)
In early spring, when sap begins to flow from the trees and the bark easily comes off, the elk peels it off in whole shreds, gnawing the bark at the bottom and, grabbing it, pulls it up. The bark gnaws made by this tall animal are usually located at a height of 1 to 2.5-3 m above ground level. Traces of minor damage on the trunks of aspens, mountain ash, willows, elms and other trees gradually fade, but persist for many years. Damaged areas on spruce trunks are covered with resin and seem to be healing, but in the wind, fractures of even large trees occur precisely in these gnawed places. Some trees with bark removed in a ring dry out. Moose willingly feed on the bark of fallen trees.
Sometimes in the fall, moose make rutted paths to logging sites, where there are many felled aspen trees. The summer trails of elk are also clearly visible, connecting overgrown burnt areas and clearings - their grazing places in the forest - with watering places: streams, rivers and lakes.
Rice. 77. The flowering top of fireweed is eaten by an elk (d.)
Often, in spring and summer, moose graze along the shores of lakes and swamps, eating young greenery and willow flowers, marigold, sedge, watch, etc. Not content with this food, they go into the water and take out from the bottom the fleshy rhizomes of egg capsules, urut and other aquatic plants. On spring pastures, next to the large sharp hoof marks of the female, it is sometimes possible to notice small traces of one or two recently born calves.
When feeding on branches in winter, the elk breaks trees with fragile wood or heavily frozen trunks of buckthorn, aspen, pine, fir, etc. He bends down small trees, grabbing them with his mouth, and bends and knocks down larger ones, moving forward with his chest and passing them between his front legs. It is not difficult for an elk to bend and hold a tree with the weight of its huge body, but the sharp branches scratch its chest - the elk often walks around in sores and abrasions in winter. During winter settled life even a small herd of elk destroys many shoots and branches, breaks and damages hundreds of young trees. Even after several years, it is still easy to recognize a winter elk camp in the forest - there are so many broken, gnawed and skinny trees devoid of tops. If there are no tracks in the snow, then by the freshness of the broken trunks and wood on the gnawed trees one can approximately judge the time when the moose passed or “stood.” Elk and deer break thin branches and tear them off, since they have front teeth - incisors - only on the lower jaw. The break in the end of the branch they used is different from the one “cut off” by the sharp teeth of the hares.
Rice. 78. Young pine, broken and partly eaten by elk
Kharovsky district, Vologda region, November
In areas where the maximum snow depth during the winter rarely exceeds 45-50 cm, moose live almost sedentary, changing only their grazing and resting places according to the seasons. Where the height of the snow cover reaches an average of 65-70 cm or more, moose migrate twice a year - in autumn and spring, spending the winter in conditions of little snow in the forest, sometimes 200-300 km from their summer camps. So, on the right bank of the Irtysh, in the Demyanka River basin, they roam from north to south, and, according to the observations of L. G. Kaplanov, in the fall they travel about 10-15 km per day, sometimes up to 30 km. Significant elk migrations also occur on the western slope of the Middle Urals. In the area of the Pechora-Ilychsky Nature Reserve, moose migrate in two directions: from north to south and from west to east. The first group spends the winter in the pine forests of the middle and southern taiga subzones, where abundant pine-birch undergrowth provides them with food throughout the winter; the latter winter in spruce-fir foothill forests, where they feed on fir and rowan branches, despite the deep snow, almost two meters at the end of winter.
Rice. 79. Rowan shoots, torn off by a moose (left), and oak shoots, cut off by a mountain hare (d.)
Mordovian ASSR
Autumn migration usually begins when the first powder falls, even before freezing, spring migration - when the snow settles and the crust melts, which greatly complicates the movement of all ungulates. At winter camp sites, moose shed their antlers: old males in December - January, young bulls - at the end of February, in March. An elk antler that has been lying in the forest for a long time is usually heavily chewed by small animals. The lack of certain salts in plant foods of the northern forest makes the horn attractive mineral nutrition for hares, squirrels, voles and lemmings. Based on the width of the grooves made by the incisors of rodents, one can approximately judge the types of animals that use this food.
New antlers grow during the summer; as soon as they harden, the bulls begin to peel off the “shirt” from them - the skin that covered the horns during the growth period. On the Kola Peninsula, according to Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, moose “clean their antlers” from late August to mid-September. During this period, “the moose most often scrapes and breaks with its antlers young pines (up to 10 cm in diameter), fir trees, birches and junipers.” However, most of the trees and bushes twisted or broken by horns are damaged not during the cleaning of the horns from the shirt, but later, during the roar (i.e., the mating season). The elk continues to strip branches and bark from young trees with its antlers even in winter until the antlers fall off. The rutting period for elk occurs in September - early October; at this time, each male stays with one female, and her calves often remain near her. Sometimes the bull drives them away, but they rejoin their mother at the end of the rut and spend the winter together. A pair of moose spends the rutting period in one relatively small area. It is easily recognized by the presence of bushes broken by horns and by holes in the ground (up to 80 cm in diameter and 25-30 cm deep), knocked out by the front hooves of the bull in the place where the female urinated. The roaring elk after the female leaves its “traces” in this pothole, which retain a pungent odor for quite a long time, reminiscent of the smell of a beaver stream. Such diggings also appear after snow falls; from them one can judge not only the places, but also the timing of the moose rut.
Thus, throughout the year, the elk leaves varied and clearly visible tracks, from which, step by step, one can learn about all the changes in its seasonal life, about its short and long-distance movements and changing requirements for the environment.
Reindeer
Wild reindeer are found much less frequently than moose, and on a smaller area of the European part of the USSR. But just 100 years ago, in the former Kostroma and Nizhny Novgorod provinces, herds of grazing wild deer blew up the snow so much that it was impossible to follow them on skis. Now they only occasionally run into the Kirov region, more often found on the Kola Peninsula, in the north of the Urals, in the tundra, taiga and mountains of Siberia.
If a tracker is lucky enough to come across tracks of reindeer in the forest, he will immediately distinguish them by the following features: elk prefers to stay in thickets of small forests in winter, reindeer more willingly goes to open swamps, mountain tundras and wastelands; elk eats branches, deer paws at snow, makes large digs, feeding on moss, or wanders through the coniferous forest, tearing off shreds of bearded lichen hanging on the trunks and branches of fallen trees; elk always stay in small groups, reindeer graze and roam in herds of several dozen or even hundreds of heads.
Hoof prints and domesticated droppings reindeer completely similar to the tracks of a wild deer. Only after passing behind long distance, studying the features of “handwriting”, it is possible to distinguish traces of a more careful and active wild deer from traces of domestic herds, and even then without much confidence in the accuracy of the definition.
Rice. 80. Reindeer tracks (d.)
Kola Peninsula, June
But the tracks of a reindeer are easily distinguished from the tracks of other animals of similar size. Its large (medium) hoof prints are kidney-shaped and highly rounded; on marshy soil or soft snow they are widely spread apart. The side toes are set wide apart and sit so low that they constantly touch the ground, leaving imprints of sharp hooves. The stride length at slow speed is 50-70 cm.
Caucasian deer, maral and wapiti
In the mountain forests of a large part of the Caucasus and in the impassable reeds of Dagestan, the most beautiful of the ungulates is found - the Caucasian red deer.
Another form of deer survives in small numbers in the forests of eastern Crimea. There are also protected European deer in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Voronezhsky, Khopersky and other reserves. The deer that inhabit the mountains of Central Asia and the southern part of Siberia - red deer and wapiti - are also only subspecies (geographical races) of one widespread species.
Rice. 81. Left - winter droppings of reindeer (Dixon Island),
on the right - wapiti (Ussuri taiga) (e.v.)
The cautious, timid Caucasian deer stays in deserted places on the border of the forest and alpine meadows in summer, and descends much lower in winter. On areas covered fine snow, deer collect acorns, beech nuts, and nibble grass. If the snow is deep, they eat young shoots, lichens, buds, gnaw the bark, and pick off green, unfallen blackberry leaves. Young deer and lankas (females) form common herds and go to the lower mountain belts for the winter; old males wander alone and remain in dark coniferous forests, where the snow height reaches 80-100 cm or more.
Towards the end of winter or early spring, deer shed their antlers. Like moose, old people shed their antlers earlier than younger ones. The deer sheds its antlers in approximately the same place. First one horn breaks off, then after a while the other. It has been noticed that large, heavy horns large males lie on the trail closer to one another than small ones. This is explained as follows: the remaining heavy horn strongly tilts the head to one side, disturbs the animal, and the deer is in a hurry to get rid of it.
Rice. 82. Footprint of a female Caucasian deer (e.v.)
Caucasian Nature Reserve, September
The traces of the Caucasian deer are similar to those of the Asian representatives of this group: the almost exterminated Tugai deer, or hangul, found here and there along the Tugai in the river valleys of Central Asia; deer, inhabiting mainly the mountain taiga of Southern Siberia (found from the Tien Shan to Lake Baikal inclusive); as well as red deer, living in the forests of Transbaikalia and the southern half of the Far Eastern Territory. The hoof prints of these animals are similar to those of their common neighbor - the wild boar. But a boar's longer side toes are more likely to leave prints, and the two middle toes spread wider than those of a deer. Based on the tracks of the body on the grass, bushes and trees (the wild boar is much lower than the deer), and from the droppings, it is often possible to verify the identification made from the hoof prints.
Rice. 83. Traces of a deer on the move: on the left - a female, on the right - a male
The latter has a gap between the right and left prints
(see dotted line) much wider than that of the female
Deer droppings, like those of elk, are characteristic “nuts”, usually lying in a large pile. They are smaller than elk, but larger than those of roe deer. Bull deer tracks, especially the hind foot prints, are larger, blunter, and more rounded than those of a doe, and the hoof prints are more closely compressed. In addition, the tracks of the right and left pairs of limbs of the bull are moved much further to the sides from the middle longitudinal line of the track.
Rice. 84. Litter of a female Caucasian deer
above - winter, below - spring, when switching to feeding on succulent green food. Caucasian Reserve
Deer gnawing on the bark of elms, aspens, and willows has a different character, depending on what time of year the deer fed. Winter damage looks like grooves left by a semicircular chisel, narrower than those of an elk; at this time, the bark is firmly connected to the wood and the deer scrapes it off with its incisors. During the period of sap movement, the bark in whole ribbons and flaps is easily torn off from the tree. The deer feeds on it, leaving almost no teeth marks - this is summer and spring damage.
There are springs and springs, the water of which contains a slightly higher percentage of salts. The soil near such mineral springs is saturated with salts. In spring and summer, all ungulates willingly visit these salt licks. Deer gnaw the brackish soil, dig deep holes in it, drink water, lick stones lying in the water, sometimes even gnaw on crumbling pieces rocks. Dirt trails and many animal tracks lead to the salt licks of different ages and gender.
In the fall, the mating season begins and deer walk through the forest with a trumpet roar, the length of the tracks noticeably increases. At the same time, you can see traces of meetings and fights of males. Where the bulls fought, the moss was torn out and scattered in all directions, the earth was dug up and exposed. Occasionally, pieces of broken horns and traces of blood on the trampled ground are found at the scene of a fight. Sometimes the males intertwine their horns so much that they cannot separate, and the fight ends with the death of both rivals from hunger.
When snow falls, Caucasian and Siberian deer migrate to their winter camps. In some areas, these are short treks from one slope of a ridge to another, or from within one type of forest to an adjacent one. But sometimes deer have to walk many tens of kilometers. Then they move in small groups along unchanged long-term paths. Where there are a lot of deer, for example in the Primorsky Territory, their paths are very numerous and represent one of the typical features of a wild, sparsely populated area. L. G. Kaplanov wrote:
“They exist for many years, are constantly renewed and run through valleys along rivers and springs, along ridges and through mountain folds, serving as travel routes for all types of animals in the summer.” Such deer paths are often used when traveling and when research work in the taiga. “If it weren’t for the numerous animal trails crossing the Sikhote-Alin taiga in all directions, we would not have been able to complete half of our journeys,” wrote the famous explorer of this region, V. K. Arsenyev.
Feeding mainly on tree branches in winter, deer at the site of mass winter grazing leave even more noticeable traces of their presence than elk. This is due to the fact that deer are a herd animal; females and young animals stay in large groups. Noticeable damage to forest plantings was noted in the Crimean and Voronezh nature reserves; traces of the long-term impact of wapiti grazing on the vegetation of Sikhote-Alin were described by L. G. Kaplanov. Here the influence of numerous deer primarily affects their favorite, main forage species- velvet tree, aralia - and to a lesser extent on others.
In the Far Eastern taiga, the influence of wapiti on forest life is not significant economic importance, especially since deer provides valuable antlers, meat, skin and, to some extent, pays off the damage caused to forest plantations.
IN forestry In the European part of the USSR, where they pay great attention to reforestation in cleared areas, create forest nurseries and acclimatize valuable species, it is necessary to protect areas of young forest from elk and deer and not allow too large an increase in the number of these animals.
Dappled deer
This small, very beautiful deer has been preserved in small groups only in the forests of the Primorsky Territory, north to Bolshaya Ussurka. But over the past 30-40 years, sika deer have been resettled in a number of nature reserves in the European part of the USSR and in some areas of Siberia. Its antlers - young antlers - are used as a remedy and are valued higher than the antlers of deer and wapiti.
Sika deer tracks are midway in size between those of roe deer and wapiti.
Rice. 85. Hoof prints and droppings of a sika deer
Left - winter, right - spring during transition
for succulent green food (e.v.). Primorye, June
Sika deer usually graze on forest lawns and clearings, where they eat herbaceous plants, some even inedible for livestock, such as hellebore and lily of the valley. It readily feeds on acorns and other forest fruits, plucks buds and soft leaves of trees. Reaching branches while standing on its hind legs, it easily rises and stretches to its full length.
An inexperienced tracker might think that some very tall animal was feeding here. As a rule, sika deer live sedentary lives, sticking to one small area. In summer these are dense thickets of siver - the northern slopes of the hills, in winter there is little snow in the sun - slopes facing south and covered with black forest.
Roe
The wild goat, the roe deer, which in Transbaikalia is called “guran” and in Kazakhstan “ilik,” also leads a similar lifestyle to deer. Its tracks - a miniature copy of a deer's - are most often found in light, sparse forests, in clearings, in overgrown burnt areas, in tugai forests and mountain bushes. Of our small deer, the roe deer is the most widespread and in some places very numerous species. It is found in the western zone of the European part of the USSR (from Ukraine, Belarus and the Leningrad region east to the Moscow, Yaroslavl and Voronezh regions), in the Crimea, the Caucasus, the Middle and Southern Urals, in the forest-steppe of Kazakhstan and the mountain forests of a number of ridges in Central Asia, in the southern taiga zone of Siberia. The roe deer of Siberia, and especially the Urals, are much larger than those living in the European part of the USSR and Central Asia, which is reflected in the size of the tracks, the length of the jumps, etc.
Rice. 86. Traces of the right pair of legs of a male roe deer during slow movement (e.v.)
Primorye, June
Roe deer inhabit vast continuous forests and small forest outcrops, through which they penetrate far into the steppe region. In summer, its traces are found even in the reed fields of the large lakes of Northern Kazakhstan, and in the southern part of this republic, roe deer are found in large numbers in the tugai and reed thickets of the lower reaches of the Ili River, surrounded by the sands of the vast desert.
The most densely populated areas of roe deer are the southern strip of Siberia from the coast of the Sea of Japan to Altai in the west, Middle, Southern Urals and mountains of Central Asia. In summer, roe deer lie down to rest in dense thickets of young deciduous and coniferous trees, in bushes and dense forb cover of clearings, in fireweed and large ferns.
In terms of food, the roe deer is unpretentious and eats many herbaceous plants, leaves of trees and shrubs, and their fruits. Unlike elk and deer, branch food plays a relatively small role in its diet even in winter; She is more willing to nibble dry grass in blowouts and sun-licks (areas devoid of snow), eat hay from stacks, hoof fallen aspen leaves from under the snow, etc. The roe deer goes to salt licks for most of the year.
Rice. 87. Footprint of an adult male Siberian roe deer during fast jumps
When running, the hooves move apart strongly - except for the two middle toes
The short side ones (e.v.) rest on the ground.
Kostanay region, Kazakhstan, July
At their summering and wintering sites, queens with young and single males remain more or less sedentary, occupying for a long time a limited area that has a watering hole, pasture and dense thickets of bedding areas. Daily transitions under some conditions can be quite large.
Here, for example, is a description of the passage of a family of roe deer through the first powder in the Middle Urals. Having risen from their resting places on the top of a small hill with dense pine saplings, they made a large circle, returned to the same place and lay down not far from their previous resting place. These animals walked about 14 km and moved away from their resting place, counting in a straight line, by 4.5 km. “The roe deer walked one after another,” wrote S. L. Ushkov, “sometimes they dispersed, walked around individual trees and bushes, and came together again. As they walked, without stopping, they bit off the tops of birches, aspens and pines. They usually walked along the edge, but in On two occasions we crossed a clearing in an open place..."
The roe deer rut occurs in August - September. During this period, males become more active, run around a lot in search of females and often fight with rivals. Their fresh tracks appear on the paths where for a long time didn't meet at all.
In the northern part of the roe deer distribution area and in the mountains with snowy winters, these animals migrate until spring from summering grounds to areas more favorable for wintering - little snow, better protected from cold winds, etc., in late autumn and partly in winter. During seasonal migrations, roe deer, gathered in herds of 10-20 animals, travel tens of kilometers away. With constant seasonal migrations, they usually follow their own special paths and paths that have existed for many decades. In the old days, during large migrations and especially at river crossings (for example, on the Amur, Ussuri), thousands of roe deer became the prey of commercial hunters. Sometimes large winter movements of roe deer are caused by heavy snowfalls. The permanent wintering grounds of these ungulates, covered with deep snow, become unsuitable for them, and the animals migrate. At the same time, even herds, which in normal years live sedentary, are moved to new places. Winter is the most difficult period in the life of many ungulates. At this time, the roe deer everywhere chooses the least snowy forest plantations or sunny areas. Even in the Caucasus and Crimea, roe deer are more willing to stay in “warm spots” in winter.
To rest, these animals dig a den in the snow right down to the ground. They always lie down with their chest and stomach down, with their legs tucked in. That's why they don't have beds correct form and so small that they do not seem to correspond to the height of the animal. Pursued roe deer very skillfully confuse their trail: they describe circles, returning several times to the original path, make loops and jumps to the side. Old goats shed their horns in November, while young goats shed their horns in December.
Rice. 88. On the left - winter droppings of a Siberian roe deer, on the right - musk deer
(a little clever). Primorye
Musk deer
The trail of the musk deer that lives in our area mountainous areas South and Eastern Siberia, smaller than those of other small ungulates, and is similar not so much to the track of related deer, but to the track of mountain antelopes. The musk deer's hooves are elongated and sharp, the footprint is clear. Since its lateral hooves - spurs - are sharp and long, they also give distinct imprints on snow and soft ground.
Her toes are able to move apart greatly, thereby increasing the supporting surface of her legs. This makes it easier for musk deer to move through loose forest snow.
Rice. 89. On the left are the hoof prints of a female musk deer when moving slowly, on the right - when jumping uphill (e.v.). Altai Nature Reserve
(based on a sketch by F.D. Shaposhnikov)
When jumping quickly, the musk deer throws its strong hind legs far behind its front ones; in this case, the arrangement of the group of prints resembles the tracks of a hare. Small dark “nuts”, musk deer droppings, lying in heaps among rocks and stones, resemble spilled black sunflower seeds.
Rice. 90. Traces of musk deer on jumps
Musk deer is a sedentary animal; it stays in rocky areas of the taiga throughout the year; in winter, when there is deep snow, it lays rough paths along the cornices of rocks and cliffs. Its main winter food is tree lichens, coniferous fir legs, etc. Its lifestyle has been little studied and deserves the close attention of trackers.
Boar
Wild pigs get along better with humans than other ungulates. Despite long-standing persecution, in the forests of Belarus, the Caucasus, Central Asia, southern Kazakhstan and Siberia - wherever there are suitable conditions, there are still a lot of these animals. Their well-worn paths cross all the vast reed thickets of the Caspian coast, the delta of the Kuban and Volga rivers, the lower reaches of the Amu Darya, Syr Darya and a number of other areas. There are many wild boars in mountain forests, especially in the Primorsky Territory. Among the impenetrable thickets and thickets, their countless traces can be seen sometimes.
Rice. 91. Traces of a female wild pig (d.)
Caspian coast, Dagestan, June
Old pigs, sometimes accompanied by small piglets, sometimes by one- or two-year-old gilts, are united with other families. Having formed herds of several dozen heads, they wander through the forests, looking for places richest in acorns, chestnuts, hazel, beech or pine nuts. In the summer they dig up bulbs, roots, earthworms, small rodents and plow mountain meadows, forest clearings, etc. with their snouts. In winter, depending on the weather and depth of snow, herds of pigs either descend to the lowlands or rise again to the mountains. In coastal areas, they spend most of the year digging sweet rhizomes and tender shoots of reeds, mealy rhizomes of cattail, and in shallow places in reservoirs they collect water chestnuts and shells. If they are lucky, wild boars even catch fish, looking for drying up, very shallow lakes and channels, or visit fishermen’s kots, verts and other self-catching tools. From the reed and forest "fortresses" that are almost inaccessible to the hunter, wild boars raid the fields - destroy wheat, corn, melons, potatoes, etc.
Rice. 92. Pieces of large whitish cattail rhizomes dug up by a wild boar
(strongly smart.) Volga Delta
If you come across a single large boar track in the summer, it means that either an old male cleaver or a younger one whose tusks have not yet fully protruded from behind the lips has passed by. Males lead a solitary lifestyle for most of the year and are known among hunters as “ones.” Winter boar tracks are deep; The short animal drags its feet and often plows a continuous furrow in the snow.
Pigs usually spend the long winter night feeding. In those places where they are little persecuted, they are not averse to wandering during the day. To rest, pigs rake up fallen leaves, weeds or reeds with their feet and snout, creating a den with a diameter of 5-6 m, and lie down in a herd. Single boars make a smaller bed for themselves, but much higher and warmer. In the summer, females, protecting themselves and their piglets from mosquitoes, make something like green arbors with a canopy of thick branches in dense thickets.
Both boars and pigs rarely return to a den where they have already rested once, and more often make a new one.
The number of newborn piglets in the litter is 6-10; they are born in April - May, in the south even at the end of March. Before giving birth, a pregnant female separates from the herd with which she spent the winter and brings cubs, secluded in a secluded place. The family joins other adult pigs and gilts only after the piglets are strong enough. Although the female carefully protects and very bravely protects the brood, piglets in the first months of life are quite easy prey for large predators, especially for wolves, leopards, etc. During the first three months of life, at least 20 percent of the offspring dies, and by autumn, each queen usually has no more than two or three piglets left.
Rice. 93. Traces of a wild pig: on the left - at the beginning of summer, on the right - at the end of October (e.v.)
Volga Delta
At the beginning of summer, a family on the move makes a wide path on which large, deep tracks of the queen are surrounded and entangled by several rows of light tracks of piglets. Live, fast piglets, chasing each other, often run away from the road, making loops and circles that cross the trail of an adult female, who carefully and carefully chooses the path. In late autumn, next to the female’s trail, only the traces of a few surviving and much grown piglets stretch; their behavior no longer differs much from the behavior of adult animals. In dense thickets, the family stretches out like a goose and makes its way along a narrow path, which is pierced by the queen walking ahead. At feeding areas, the brood's tracks fan out, only to soon merge into one stitch again on the transition to a new grazing area.
Rice. 94. Traces of a wild boar at a slow pace (dum.)
In addition to burrows, areas of ruffled leaves and lairs, wild pigs leave long-lasting traces of swimming areas - places where they took “mud baths”. In the Caucasus, wild boar bathe almost all year round, but especially often in June, during the summer molting period, and in autumn. Already at the end of September, wild boars begin to visit swimming pools regularly; in October and especially in November, swimming takes on the character of a mass phenomenon and again becomes rarer in December, with the onset of significant cold weather. In the mountains, the usual places for boar mud baths are oozing springs and small basins with stagnant water, including even potholes with rain puddles on clayey soils. mountain roads etc. Among the reed thickets, deep baths, surrounded by an oval roller of black silt pushed to the surface, are located in shallow waters or half-dried shores close to the water line of a lake, stream, etc. After the wild boar leaves, wild ducks willingly rinse themselves in such “baths” , shepherdesses and marsh hens collect their food - a continuous pattern of bird paw prints soon appears on the bathing suit.
Rice. 95. Traces of a galloping boar (dum.)
A single male, stopping to rest and choosing a place to lay down, behaves more cautiously than a female. Usually he makes a semicircle, lies at the end of such a loop with his head towards the entrance track and “keeps it on the ear.” The female does not circle and lies down on the direct trail. In warm summertime, wild boars lie down both in clearings and in the forest. When it rains and in cold weather, solitary nests in the Caucasus are located only in the forest, most often at the base of the trunk of a dense tree, such as fir, or under upturned roots. In the reeds, in such weather, the wild boar settles in dense thickets with a crease - a natural canopy made of old fallen stems. A pig with piglets often lies down under the protection of a tree with a large crown, in thickets of young growth, entangled with hops, clematis and other climbing plants. The brood rests in a tight group. Large herds, settling down to rest, are divided into groups or families of four to six heads each; these groups lie close to one another, often with their heads in different directions, which makes it easier to observe the possible approach of danger.
Wild pigs make especially long journeys in the spring and early summer. Large summer concentrations of wild boars are observed in reed thickets in places of mass hatching of migratory locusts, which provide tasty food for pigs. Significant migrations are also observed in the fall; they are associated with the different times of ripening of forest fruits, and in late autumn - with the search for productive feeding areas and wintering areas with little snow. Wild boars endure mild winters easily, but in those years when deep snow falls or the soil freezes heavily, they quickly weaken from lack of food, become easy prey for wolves, or freeze to death due to extreme exhaustion.
From November to January is the time for mating of wild boars: pigs move to more remote places, and cleavers, approaching the herds of queens, drive away the young ones. Only after a month do the piglets join their mothers again. Where strong wild boars fought, the ground is dug up and trampled, spattered with blood and strewn with stubble.
In the last 30-35 years, hunting organizations in many regions of the European part of the RSFSR have been breeding wild pigs in forests and wetlands. Numerous herds of them roam not only in the middle zone, where there are oak forests and wild boars largely feed on acorns, but also much further north. Now the wild boars have spread to the Vologda region, and in some cases they reach the south of Arkhangelsk. There are many of them in the Kalinin, Yaroslavl and Moscow regions. Here, traces of these large and strong animals can often be found in fields and hay meadows. They greatly damage potato and beet plantings, pea and oat crops. Sometimes they are very spoiled by haymaking. Sometimes wild boars enter vegetable gardens and even the outskirts of large cities. Currently, a reasonable reduction in the number of wild boars is required, especially where there is little natural food and the animals largely live off agricultural crops.
Tours and chamois
In the Caucasus, high above the forests where herds of wild pigs roam, on bright lawns and gravelly screes near the eternal snow you can find traces of other ungulates: mountain goats - aurochs and chamois.
Rice. 96. Hoof print of a male chamois (d.)
Inhabitants of inaccessible heights, they rarely catch your eye. And only with good binoculars can you monitor their movement along the rocks and ridges. Already from afar, through the wide gorges, you can see rutted paths in places where mountain goats constantly move. In summer, aurochs stay especially high, and in winter they are forced to descend closer to the upper border of the forest, where there is less deep snow and more food. Near the steep ledges, on the centuries-old paths of the aurochs, fertilized with their droppings, the grass grows higher and more luxuriantly than far from the rocks. The floor of deep caves, located in inaccessible places in the mountains, where aurochs often hide from bad weather, is covered with a thick layer of “nuts”, and in the cracks of the stones one can see shreds of faded auroch down.
Rice. 97. Chamois droppings (e.v.)
North Caucasus, November
Chamois, one of the few antelopes found in the mountains, is more often than aurochs in the forest and often enters the salt licks, completely covered with traces of roe deer and deer. The chamois' hooves are very narrow and sharp; the traces are easily distinguished from all others. On high ridges There are several other species of mountain goats and wild sheep in Central Asia and Siberia, but there is still too little information about their traces.
Questions for independent observations of ungulates
Describe the places where you encountered footprints different types ungulate animals. Did the animals pass through or stay here for a long time? Number of animals, their size, age, sex. What is the size of the area occupied by them, how large are their daily movements, are migrations noticeable depending on the seasons and weather from one area to another? Where, how and what kind of food do animals get for themselves? Are there signs of a hunger strike?
How do animals react to the proximity of humans and traces of their activities? Where and at what time do moose, deer and roe deer lose their antlers? How do they confuse their trail, how do they fight off attacking predators? Sketch tracks, food remains, characteristic damage, lairs. Having established test plots, count the number of young trees destroyed by wild ungulates.
This information will primarily be of interest to novice hunters. If you can offer better and more informative photographs, as well as add photos of winter tracks of animals that are not in this article, publish them in the appropriate section of the photo gallery (indicating the name of the animal) and leave a link here. Detailed comments are welcome
Animal tracks in the snow, photos with names
Below you will find several photographs of animal tracks in the snow, which were added by site users to the “Pathfinder” gallery section and schematic images of tracks of a hare, wolf, fox, bear, wild boar and other animals.
Moose trail
It is difficult for an experienced hunter to confuse the tracks of an elk with the tracks of other animals. Of course, they are very similar to the hoof prints of cattle and some wild elk relatives, but they are significantly larger in size. The hooves of a male elk, even if of average build, are always larger than the hooves of the largest domestic bull. In general, the elk walks heavily and sinks deep into the loose snow, down to the ground. The stride length is usually about 80 cm. When trotting, the stride is wider - up to 150 cm, and when galloping, jumps can reach 3 meters. The width of the print, excluding the lateral toes, is about 10 cm for moose cows and 14 cm for bulls, and the length is 14 cm and 17 cm for females and males, respectively.
Photo of moose tracks in the snow added by user z.a.v.77. in 2017.
More photos of elk tracks:
hare trail
Hares leave two long hind paw prints in front and two shorter front paw prints behind them. In the snow, the length of the footprint of the front paws is about 8 cm with a width of 5 cm, and the length of the hind paws is up to 17 cm, with a width of about 8 cm. Due to their specificity, the tracks of the oblique are not difficult to determine, as is the direction of its movement. Hiding from pursuit, a hare can jump up to 2 meters, and in a “calm environment” the length of the jump is about 1.2 - 1.7 meters.
A photo of hare tracks in the snow was added by Laichatnik in 2015.
More photos of hare tracks:
Fox trail
Fox tracks allow an experienced hunter to determine the nature of its movement. A fox paw print is typically about 6.5 cm long and 5 cm wide. The step length is from 30 to 40 cm. However, during a hunt or when escaping pursuit, the fox makes fairly long (up to 3 m) jumps and throws forward, to the right or left - at right angles to the direction of movement.
Photo of fox tracks in the snow added by user kubazoud in 2016.
More photos of fox tracks:
Bear tracks
Traces brown bear It is quite easy to recognize among the tracks of other animals. This heavyweight (on average his weight is about 350 kg) cannot pass through snow and mud unnoticed. The prints of the animal's front paws are about 25 cm long, up to 17 cm wide, and the hind paws are about 25-30 cm long and about 15 cm wide. The claws on the front paws are almost twice as long as those on the hind paws.
Photo of bear tracks in the snow added by user willi in 2016.
More photos of bear tracks:
Wolf tracks
The tracks of wolves are very similar to the paw prints of large dogs. However, there are also differences. The front toes of a wolf are more forward and are separated from the hind toes by the width of a match, while in dogs, the toes are gathered together and such a gap is no longer observed. Experienced hunters can distinguish from the scent what kind of gait the animal moved at a walk, trot, gallop or gallop.
Photo of wolf tracks in the snow added by user Sibiriak in 2014.
More photos of wolf tracks:
Wolverine tracks
It is difficult to confuse wolverine tracks with anyone else's. The front and hind feet have five toes. The length of the front paw print is about 10 cm, the width is 7-9 cm. The hind paw is slightly smaller. The snow is often imprinted with a horseshoe-shaped metacarpal callus and a carpal callus located directly behind it. The first shortest toe of the front and hind paws may not be imprinted on the snow.
Photo of wolverine tracks in the snow added by user Tundravik in 2014.
Boar tracks
It is not difficult to distinguish the footprint of an adult wild boar from the traces of other ungulates, because in addition to the imprint of the hoof itself, a trace of stepson fingers located on the side remains on the snow or ground. It is interesting that in young piglets in the first months of life these fingers are not supporting, and therefore do not leave a mark.
Photo of wild boar tracks in the snow added by user Hanter57 in 2014.
More photos:
Roe deer trail
Based on the footprint of a roe deer, one can judge the speed of its movement. During running and jumping, the hooves move apart and, along with the front toes, the lateral toes serve as support. When the animal moves at a pace, the print looks different.
Photo of roe deer tracks in the snow added by user Albertovich in 2016.
More photos of roe deer tracks:
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, determining their freshness and significance for hunting.
The tracks of animals left on the snow, mud or grass are of significant importance for hunting: the tracks are used to track and locate the animal, their number, gender, age are recognized, as well as whether the animal is wounded 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 notices them, and if they do not immediately run away or fly away, they hide, and their behavior becomes atypical. The traces of vital activity they leave behind help the observer to unravel the secrets of the life of animals, which means not only the imprints of their limbs, but also all the changes made by the animal to the environment.
To correctly interpret a discovered trace, you need to know who it belongs to, how long ago it was left by the animal, where the animal was going, as well as its methods of movement.
How to learn to recognize animal tracks? To determine the freshness of a track, it is necessary to tie together several factors: the biology of the animal, the state of the weather both at the moment and several hours before, as well as other information. For example, a moose track found in the morning, not covered with snow that fell the day before from the afternoon until the evening, indicates that it is nocturnal.
Freshness of the trail can also be determined by touch. In cold weather, in dry snow, a fresh footprint does not differ in looseness from the surface of the surrounding snow. After some time, the walls of the trace harden, and the lower the temperature, the more strongly - the trace “hardens”. Any other trace left big beast, becomes harder over time, and the more time passes from the moment the mark is formed, the harder it becomes. Traces of small animals left on the surface of deep snow do not harden. It is important to find out whether the animal has been here since the evening or passed an hour ago. If the trail is old, more than a day, then it is useless to look for the animal that left it, because it is already far away, out of reach. If the trail left is fresh, then the animal may be somewhere nearby. To determine the direction of movement of an animal, you need to know the peculiarities of the placement of the limbs of different animals. Taking a closer look at a single track of a large animal left in loose deep snow, you can notice the difference between the walls of the track along the path of the animal.
On one side they are flatter, on the other they are steeper. These differences arise because the animals lower their limbs (legs, paws) gently, and take them out of the snow almost vertically upward. These differences are called: dragging - the rear wall and dragging - the front wall of the trace. The drag is always longer than the drag, which means that the animal moved in the direction where the short, that is, steeper walls of the track are directed. When the animal removes its leg, it presses on the front wall, compacting it, while the back wall does not deform. Sometimes, in order to accurately determine the direction of movement of the animal, it is necessary to hurry it up, observing the handwriting of the trail.
The gait of an animal, or the gait of its movement, comes down to two types: slow or moderately fast movement (step, trot, amble) and fast running with successive jumps (gallop, quarry).
Animals with an elongated body and short limbs most often move at a moderate gallop. They are simultaneously pushed off by the hind limbs and fall exactly into the prints of the forelimbs. The legacy with such a gait is paired prints of only the hind limbs (most mustelids).
Sometimes, during a slow gallop, one or both hind paws of the animal does not reach the prints of the front ones, and then groups of tracks of three and four prints appear, called three- and four-legs. Less often, long-bodied and short-legged animals move to the quarry, and then when jumping they put their hind paws in front of their front paws, and therefore the prints of their hind paws are in front of their front paws (hares, squirrels).
To determine the freshness of a trace, you need to divide the trace with a thin twig. If the trail is easily divided, then it is fresh; if it is not divided, it is old, more than a day old.
The track of an animal looks different not only due to the gaits of the animals, but also due to the condition of the soil on which the animals move. The footprint also changes depending on the hardness or softness of the soil. Ungulates, when moving calmly on hard soil, leave imprints 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. The tracks also change as the animals age. In older animals, the tracks are larger and of a slightly different shape. For example, piglets rest on two fingers, and their parents on four. Adult dogs rest on four toes, while puppies use five. The footprints of males and females are also different, but only experienced trackers can discern their differences. With the change of seasons, the tracks of animals change, since the paws of some of them are overgrown with coarse long hair, which makes it easier to move through loose snow (marten, lynx, mountain hare, fox, etc.).
Various shapes(types) of footprints:
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The fox is found in Russia from the east to the westernmost borders, from the Arctic coast to the south. This red-haired cheat did not settle only on a few islands of the Arctic, on its coastal areas with a harsh climate, as well as on the archipelagos.
No matter what area of the country hunters go hunting, they can meet the common fox and see its tracks everywhere. This article will help, using photos of fox tracks and other animals, to accurately determine who owns the tracks left by the animal in the snow.
Basic Concepts
How wonderful it is to enter the world of fields, steppes and forests, to learn in more detail the life of their inhabitants. Watching birds and especially animals is very difficult. There is no harm in this; their lives will be helped by studying the traces they left behind. If you want to become a pathfinder, you need to work hard, because the main thing in this difficult task is experience and practice.
You've probably heard the saying more than once that it's better to see once than to hear a hundred times. Wherever you are, look carefully around you, life is seething everywhere, which is important to be able to see. It is better to go into the forest on skis or on foot in winter, taking with you a camera, pencil and notepad. By constantly keeping notes and sketches, learn to correctly recognize which animal left a mark in the snow.
There are different tracks, but it’s better to immediately learn to read the paw prints left by animals in the snow. Determining exactly who left their mark is not always easy. For example, in winter, clear paw prints are rarely visible, but the trail can be found without much effort. The situation is quite difficult in determining the freshness of the trace being studied; this process can well be called an entire art. All the secrets of this science are below.
Fox tracks
Fox is small, everyone famous predator, it can often be found in places where small rodents live. Its habitat is fields, river valleys and sparse forests. The hunter for whom the fox represents valuable trophy First of all, it must be able to identify its trace among the traces of other predators. Foxes are counted using paw prints.
A hunter especially often tracks a fox on winter days through the snow; for this reason, the main attention should be paid to studying the traces of the intended game. Looking closely at the prints of the red predator on the fine snow, you can notice that the pads of the two middle toes protrude forward, and the prints left by the pads of the two outer toes are behind and cover the front with the tips of the claws from the barrels. To briefly characterize the tracks of the chanterelle, it is worth noting that they represent a type of boat (see photo 1).
Fox tracks have a sign by which a tracker can easily determine which paw (front or back) they were left by. The front legs have a concave crumb, and on the hind legs it is convex. The fox's paw prints are 6.5 by 5 cm. The prints that can be seen on a straight path are located “as if along a thread.” The step length corresponds to 30 sometimes 40 cm.
By carefully examining the tracks of a fox, you can determine its behavior: jumps 3-4 m long, then an instant stop, throws at right angles are often observed in one direction or the other. All this defines the fox as a dexterous, resourceful animal endowed with unique flexibility.
When the fox goes to bed during the rutting period, as well as when moving through areas where there is no food, it moves without looping, thus leaving straight tracks. When a fox travels long distances, it trots. At this time, a doubling of an even chain of tracks of the red cheat occurs; if you look closely, you can see two parallel rows of paw prints. In this case, one mark may slightly capture the edge of another.
To quickly get to the intended place in winter through deep, loose snow, inconvenient for running, the fox does not run, but simply jumps, the prints of four limbs remain at a distance of 1-2 m. While chasing prey, the fox moves at an extended gallop.
While studying the tracks of a red predator moving through deep snow, you come to the conclusion that they are most often connected by a continuous stripe. Because of this, it is difficult to accurately determine the direction of the animal. But there is a second, rather simple way, using which it is quite easy for knowledgeable people to find out in which direction any forest inhabitants are moving; the fox is also one of them. Experienced hunters and trackers recommend that novice trappers pay attention to blades of grass or twigs sticking out in the snow along the line of tracks. They leave lines by which you can accurately guess in which direction the running animal bent down, which means this will be its planned route.
What paw prints does a dog leave?
Fox tracks in the snow are very similar to the 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 marks from the pads of the two front and back fingers, it becomes clear that a visual line can be drawn between them. In many dogs, the side toes wrap around the sides of the hind toes, extending 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 fox tracks. But there will be no doubt left if you carefully examine the straight chain of holes and the surprisingly even distances between them, as well as the regular curves on the front of the tracks. No dog can make such a drawing with very delicate lines. The fox has sharp claws, and the dog has worn ones.
Wolf tracks
In the forest you can find many traces of forest animals. One of them is the wolf. It is impossible to mistake wolf tracks in the snow for fox tracks. Compared to fox paw prints, the handsome wolf leaves very large dents in the snow. The wolf's track (see photo 3) is more similar to that of a large mongrel.
When a wolf moves at a walk or trot, its right hind leg exactly falls into the mark left by the front left leg, and, accordingly, the left hind leg into the mark of the right fore leg. Therefore, the wolf's tracks, lying in a single line, resemble a string. I would like to note that in winter it is very pleasant to watch how a wolf moves across the snow cover. In the background white snow this animal looks extremely beautiful.
Bear tracks in the snow
There is no person who does not know a brown bear. It weighs 600-700kg. Lives in forests with ravines and swamps. There you can find his traces. They are quite easy to recognize among the many traces of other animals. The prints of its front and hind paws are especially different, both in shape and size. This can be clearly seen in photo 4.
The bear's front paws measure 15 by 15 cm, and the hind paws measure 25 by 14 cm. The bear's claws on the front paws are noticeably longer than on the hind paws, and, on the contrary, the support of the hind paw is greater than that of the front paw. Depending on how fast the bear moves, the pattern of the chain of tracks changes. When the hind feet make a print on top of the front feet, the pattern is called "covered." If the hind paws make tracks ahead of the front paws, indicating that the bear was moving quickly, the track pattern is called "overlapping."
Hare tracks in the snow
Meet in the forest different animals, big and small. If you don’t have to see them, then you will definitely come across footprints along the way, especially if you go out into the forest in winter on fresh snow. You can easily find bunny tracks. There is no need to describe this animal. The white hare is known even to small children. Its weight is very small, approximately 3–5 kg. Ears of short length are black at the tips. The round tail is all white. In the summer, the hare changes its pure white coat to a reddish-brown one.
The hare leaves traces (see photo 5), which are not difficult to distinguish from other animals, and you can see them quite often. The hare's habitat is birch and aspen forests; often its tracks are also found near rivers and lakes.
The tracks of this animal represent two hind paw prints in front and two smaller front paw prints behind, located one after the other. On average, the size of the footprint of the front paws is 8.5 by 5 cm, the size of the hind paws is 12 by 8 cm. When a hare runs, frightened by its pursuer, its jump length is more than two meters; in normal condition, it leaves jump marks 120–170 cm long. The hare makes jumps that depend on the speed of movement.
Determining the freshness of fox and other animal tracks in the snow
A good hunter is one who is an excellent tracker along the white trail. Hunters gave this name to tracks in the snow. Determining when an animal left a print is a very difficult matter. In this small article it is not possible to reveal all the intricacies of this complex science, but you can familiarize yourself with some principles. They will bring invaluable help in the first stages.
Fresh tracks left in winter by fox, bear, hare, wolf and other forest inhabitants are covered with sparkling snowflakes thrown out of the track hole. Some time passes and the marks begin to fade, harden under the influence of frost, and the edges become less noticeable.
At what speed these processes will take place depends on the location where the trace is found, as well as on weather conditions. If the tracks are in an open place, they will be covered faster than those that are in a ravine. It is not difficult to calculate when the footprint was left if the time of the last snowfall is known. For example, a small snowfall fell at 9 o’clock in the morning, and at 11 o’clock they already saw a completely fresh print, it turns out that it was left two hours ago.
Experts in this matter give valuable advice: make comparisons between your fresh tracks and those you are researching. If a slight difference is visible between them, this indicates that the tracks are fresh. If you are planning a hike in the forest, it is recommended to go out into the yard in the evening and leave your handprint there. In the morning, looking at it, you can already know what yesterday’s track should look like in this state of weather and snow.