Photos of tracks of small animals in the snow. Practical classification of animal footprints
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 lay down 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 good developed sense of smell By hearing and sight, 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 left by them help the observer to unravel the secrets of the life of animals, which means not only the imprints of the limbs, but also all the changes made by the animal in 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 combine several factors: the biology of the animal, the weather condition as in this moment, and a few 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 - back wall and the drag - the front wall of the track. The trail 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 moderate fast movement(walk, 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 legs of the animal does not reach the prints of the front ones, and then groups of tracks of three and four prints, called three- and four-legged, appear. Less often, long-bodied and short-legged animals move to the quarry, and then when jumping they put their hind legs in front of their front ones, and therefore the prints hind legs stand in front of the front ones (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.
An animal's track looks different not only due to the animals' gaits, 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 trail 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. As the seasons change, the tracks of animals change, as the paws of some of them become overgrown with rough long hair, which makes it easier to move on loose snow (marten, lynx, white hare, fox, etc.).
Various shapes(types) of footprints:
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Each of us loves to go into the forest and look for animal tracks. This is such a fun activity, especially for kids!
Let us think, adults, are we really that good at understanding animal tracks?
Probably not.
Many of us have not been out into the forest for a long time and can only distinguish the tracks of a cat from a dog.
It's sad, isn't it? I wouldn’t want such civilized “savages” to grow up among children, not familiar with surrounding nature. Let's study the tracks of wild animals together with the kids, and colorful pictures will help us with this.
Game "Guess the tracks"
I would like to invite you today to introduce the kids to the tracks of wild animals.
This game:
- — develops logical thinking,
- - introduces the baby to wild animals,
- - trains memory well and fine motor skills children's fingers.
So, in front of you are the cards themselves - you will need to print them, laminate them or cover them with tape, and cut them into pieces. Now you can play. Show your child the tracks of this or that animal, and then show a picture of the animal itself and explain that these are its tracks. After the baby has a good understanding of whose particular traces are, you can invite him to play. For example, you show him the tracks of wild animals and offer to choose from two options the animals whose tracks these are. You can gradually add more and more cards until the baby begins to lay out all the cards on his own.
For teachers primary classes For teachers in kindergartens, such a game is an excellent opportunity not only to keep children busy with useful activities, but also to teach them new knowledge and skills. Pictures with footprints and animals can be used in natural history lessons and even built on this homework for children. Invite the children to draw animal tracks themselves. When they bring the pictures to class, have the other children try to guess which animal the footprints are.
Other options for pictures for games
English alphabet with animal tracks.Developing imagination
There are many animals in the world, and it is very difficult to include them all in cards and pictures. When you and the children have mastered the tracks of the animals proposed in the manual, play the following game. Take some images for the children rare species animals. Try to imagine what their tracks will look like, what their paws will be like. Various books about this can help you with this. exotic countries and the surrounding nature.
And now a task for the children: let them try to draw the tracks of the proposed animals.
How would you recognize this beast if it walked across the ground?
This exercise:
- - develops imagination;
- — improves logical thinking;
- - promotes perseverance and attentiveness, because the child needs not only to come up with and justify his choice, but also to draw traces.
You can arrange a competition for children: who can draw the tracks of their animal faster and more correctly (before the start of the competition, pictures of animals are distributed to the children).
If the pictures are being used in a classroom lesson or theme party, dedicated to the protection nature, a team competition will look great. To do this, you need to place pictures with traces on the floor around the classroom. Images of animals (selected according to their tracks) are divided into piles according to the number of commands and distributed to children. Before starting the game, give the guys a chance to think carefully, and then time it. During the specified time period (depending on the number of tasks), children must find traces of their animals and combine the pictures. The team that completes the task the fastest wins. It goes without saying that children need to be thoroughly familiarized with the tracks of animals in advance, otherwise the competition will not work, or the children will quickly lose interest.
conclusions
So, pictures with animal tracks can be an excellent tool for teaching children to communicate with the surrounding nature. It would be a good idea to consolidate the acquired knowledge in practice after a series of lessons. Organize a trip for the children to the forest, take a closer look at what animals and birds leave their traces there.
A zoo can also be a useful object of observation, but traces there are much more difficult to spot. In this case, the trip can only become an informational tour.
All forest animals lead a secretive lifestyle and prefer not to appear in public unless absolutely necessary. daylight hours days. It is quite rare to meet such inhabitants, but still from time to time they catch your eye. This is usually facilitated by bad weather, remoteness of land, large number animals, lack of food, young age and inexperience or unfavourable conditions. In all other cases, evidence of the habitation of a given species in a given area is provided by traces of their vital activity.
It is from them that the hunter can find out a lot of information about the animal. A simple footprint can tell a lot to an experienced tracker; it will tell what species of animal it belongs to, whether it is a female or a male, a baby or an adult animal, whether it is healthy or sick, whether it has gone out in search of food or is returning to a secluded place.
Needless to say, not everyone can read tracks this way; this is a whole skill that includes the ability not only to accurately determine the species forest dweller, but also to know perfectly his habits, behavior, daily activity. With all this, having the ability to compare and analyze the data obtained. After all, a decent number of factors influence how reliable the trace information turns out to be.
Let's list some of them: time of year (snow, soil), weather factors (precipitation, temperature, wind), the nature of the area and the animal's lifestyle, primarily its secrecy.
When studying the features of the tracking activity of wild animals, you need to remember that it is much easier to obtain the necessary information from a set of data. What is meant?
Field signs are usually divided into four categories:
— paw print,
- step (jump),
- move (gait),
- the legacy of an animal.
The latter includes the daily and fat passage, various information details - excrement, the voice of the animal, signal marks, etc.
Adding up all the data at once, even if it is received in full, is an extremely difficult task for many novice hunters. But there is nothing to worry about, everything will come with years and experience. I think no one doubts that it is necessary to master this skill. Indeed, in most hunting methods, the success of the event depends on the ability to correctly decipher traces.
You need to start with something simple - learn to identify the type of animal that left its imprint, and you need to be able to do this both on the snow and on the ground.
Description and characteristics of traces
Traces of this animal can only be found in the forest regions of our country, and mainly during the snowless period of the year, because everyone knows that it hibernates in winter, or rather, in winter sleep. At this time, its traces are rare; in deep snow they are very similar to the footprint of a past person, only the legacy turns out to be more sweeping. Having stumbled upon them, you should immediately return back; the awake predator, the connecting rod, poses a real threat.
With the arrival of spring, the clubfoot leaves the den and from this moment until the snow falls, its activity in the area can be easily tracked by the tracks it leaves. Most often they can be found on muddy soil along shallow rivers, near reservoirs, on forest paths and country roads, especially after rains.
The print of the front paw is significantly different from the back one. The first is round in shape, with large claws clearly visible.
Their size varies depending on the age and sex of the animal, in diameter adult it can be 12 to 18cm.
The rear print resembles an enlarged footprint of a human bare foot.
A characteristic feature of the animal's gait is its clubfoot - the toes point inward and the heels point outward.
Everyone knows that gray predator his feet feed him, he actually spends a decent portion of his time looking for food, and it is especially difficult for him to winter period. At this time, he sometimes covers up to several tens of kilometers per day. It would seem that traces of it should be found everywhere, but in reality everything is completely different. The wolf, along with the lynx and wolverine, can be considered one of the most secretive animals. You won’t see them at all during the day, except perhaps in remote places and then only in the morning or evening hours.
In summer, traces of a predator can be found on a field road where there is dust or after rain. In the forest - along the edges of reservoirs.
In winter it is much easier to see wolf tracks. It is quite heavy and often gets stuck in deep snow, so it is not uncommon for it to use beaten country roads or the paths of other animals for its movement.
The animal's paw print is quite similar to a dog's, for this reason many have difficulty determining whether it belongs to one species or another. But there are still differences and they boil down to the following: the wolf’s footprint is larger, more elongated, and the two middle fingers are moved forward. In addition, when moving at a trot, the chain of tracks is not as wide as in dogs. Predators follow each other, and you can find out how many individuals are in the pack only by tracing the trail - the animals disperse only in front of the urinary points, before the start of the hunt or at any obstacle.
The size of the mark is 5.5x12cm, the fingers are gathered into a “ball”
The move is a clear chain.
Daily travel is up to 50 km.
This animal, unlike the wolf, is most active not at night, but in the morning and evening hours, and in remote areas or in bad weather the redhead can be seen in broad daylight.
At sufficient quantity animals stumble upon their tracks in warm period years can be simple. In a low spot in a meadow, on a sandbank or river bank, on a damp forest path or country road - you will find even chains of footprints everywhere.
In winter, all nearby fields are covered with fox lace; at this time, the main source of food for it is mouse-like rodents. So she mouses every day, leaving behind many traces.
At first glance, her paw print can also be mistaken for that left by a small dog, but upon closer inspection everything will immediately become clear - it is miniature and much slimmer than a dog’s. But still, the main feature can be called a characteristic chain of traces - compiled as if according to a ruler.
The average size of the print is 6x4cm; claw marks are clearly visible on the damp ground. The side fingers do not touch the middle fingers and do not cover them from the sides.
Step size - 35-40cm
The usual move is a clear chain.
The trail per day is up to 30 km.
It leads the same twilight lifestyle as the fox; it is not picky about food, which is why you can find its traces almost anywhere. On wet soil paw prints are similar in size to fox prints, but their shape is more rounded, and the chain of tracks has a zigzag shape.
IN winter time traces of its vital activity can only be detected in a thaw and in a limited area. This beast most It endures cold weather in a state of winter sleep and only with the advent of warming does it get out of the hole, and does not go far from it.
Footprints in the snow represent irregular shape chain with drags and drags.
The size of the print is 5x4.5 cm, claws are visible in the wet ground. With a normal step, the prints of the hind paws do not fall into the prints of the front ones.
The size of the step is a quiet walk of 10-12 cm, trot - 25-30 cm.
The move is a zigzag clear chain or double.
The daily distance is 3-6 km.
Lynx
Perhaps this is one of the most secretive inhabitants northern forests, not every hunter manages to see even its traces, let alone the beast itself. Although it cannot be counted among the animals inhabiting exclusively dense dark coniferous forests. She can get along quite well with human presence as long as she is not disturbed.
This animal leads a crepuscular lifestyle and is most active at dusk and in the morning.
The main object of hunting for the lynx is the white hare, therefore its traces will most likely be found in the places where it lives. Although she is a sedentary resident, she constantly wanders around her habitat, staying for some time in places suitable for her.
In the second half of winter, it becomes increasingly difficult for the lynx to move through the virgin snow, where it sinks deep and leaves furrows in its tracks. At this time, she increasingly uses roads, tracks from snowmobiles, and frozen river beds for her movement.
Signs by which you can find out what happened here forest cat: footprints round shape, no claw marks.
The size of the trace is 8x11cm
Step size - 30-35cm
The daily route is 7-8 km.
This animal is not often seen because... leads mainly night look life. Favorite places habitats are mixed and broadleaf forests, although it occurs in coniferous taiga. It settles along the edges of ravines or on the banks of rivers, and does not go far from its burrow, so having discovered its prints, we can conclude that its refuge is somewhere nearby.
It comes out of its hiding place only after sunset and is active all night. At the same time, he, unlike other inhabitants of the forest, is not really hiding. But you won’t be able to see it anyway, if you only hear it, because in moonlit nights he rarely leaves the hole.
The shape of the tracks of this animal is very similar to those of a bear, only in miniature. They are found mainly in the warm season, in winter " a little bear"sleeping. Unless, during a prolonged thaw, he can get out of his hole for a while.
Print – 5x7cm
Usually moves at a leisurely pace, in case of danger it can run at a gallop.
Daily activity - 1.5-3 km.
Brown hare and white hare
Their traces are quite often found not only by hunters, but also by ordinary village residents. Their distinctive heritage is easily recognizable and difficult to confuse with anyone else. These rodents always throw their long hind legs behind their front ones, which is why the footprint looks like two small prints behind and two larger and elongated ones in front.
In summer you can hardly find them, unless he leaves his prints in the dust of country roads. But in winter it appears full picture hare activity.
Differences between traces of related species.
First of all, we pay attention to the nature of the area where the track was found - a forest hare, a hare - an inhabitant of fields and meadows.
The white hare moves in small jumps, often stops to feed, and often makes entire trails in feeding areas. The print from the hind paws has a rounded shape; they are much larger in size than the front ones.
Brown hare - runs fast, the distance between prints is large, does not make trails.
The difference in size between the paws is not as noticeable as that of a hare, and the mark from hind legs has a pointed shape.
Elk
The tracks of this large ungulate are generally similar to those of an ordinary cow, only slightly larger. Unlike a domestic animal, you are most likely to encounter them in the summer in the forest; they are especially often found in wetlands and near reservoirs, where they quench their thirst and hide from midges.
In winter, moose tracks can be found not only in the forest, but also in overgrown fields and meadows, here they feed on the shoots of young trees. In deep snow, they leave characteristic trails with deep, almost to the ground, footprints.
The hoof print represents - there are two ahead thumbs, behind and slightly above are two small ones, the latter never extending beyond the width of the first two.
The print size is 14-20 cm long, 10-14 cm wide.
Boar
Its tracks are distinguished from those of elk by their smaller size and the fact that the small hind toes leave imprints on the sides of the track.
These animals are not so attached to the forest, so they can often be found anywhere as long as there is food suitable for them. It could be forest edge, impassable coniferous thicket, the outskirts of swamps, lowlands in meadows, ravines and the outskirts of agricultural fields.
Very often, boar tracks can be found on field or forest roads, where, in addition to hoof prints, they leave numerous diggings in the ground.
In winter, these ungulates have a very hard time; with their short legs it is difficult to move around. deep snow. Therefore they prefer long time stay in some secluded corner of the land, trampling there for movement paths that look like deep trenches.
The size of the footprint directly depends on the age of the animal, and therefore their sizes vary greatly.
Read about the traces of other animals in the next article here.
This information will primarily be of interest to novice hunters. If you can offer better and more informative pictures, and also add a photo winter traces 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 section of the gallery, 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 a large 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 make jumps of 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
Footprints 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:
How to learn to identify and distinguish animal tracks? How to distinguish, for example, the track of a wolf from the track of an ordinary dog or the track of a white hare from a hare? How to learn to track an animal? Read about all this below! A visual aid for identifying animal tracks with descriptions and pictures.
Bear trail(especially the hind paws), similar to a human footprint (with the exception of claw prints). The male's track is slightly wider than the female bear's, and therefore experienced hunter can easily distinguish the sex of a passing animal. The place where the bear passed can be seen even in the summer, because the animal 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 definitely stir them up or turn them over.
Bear trail
Wolf tracks resemble the tracks of a large dog, but as the wolf tightens his grip on his fingers, Bottom part his fingers are more convex, and the mark is therefore more elongated and more clearly imprinted on the dirt or snow. The main difference is that the wolf's track is correct and its direction is straight. The animal walks in such a way that the imprint of the right front foot fits into the back left one and vice versa, so the tracks stretch in a line, each such track is approximately 30-35 cm from the other (depending on the depth of the snow and the age of the animal). If a flock is coming, then those following the first animal step “footstep in footstep”, so the number of wolves in the pack can be found out when the pack enters the forest.
The freshness of the footprint (unless there was powder) can be recognized by the looseness of the snow, crushed by the feet of the walking animal; if the trail is old, then it and its edges freeze and become hard to the touch. A fresh footprint 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 does not often walk at a walk, but usually at a small trot. This tread of the beast seems wrong, but despite this, the wolf uses it to lay the most correct trail. If a wolf is jumping (“waving”), then the trail of the hind paw is approximately three fingers distant from the corresponding front paw.
Wolf footprint on the ground (above) and on the snow (below)
A wolf's track can be easily distinguished from a dog's track if the track is fairly clear. A wolf's two middle fingers are located much further than the outer ones (if compared to a dog's track). The outer and middle fingers can be separated by an imaginary line, and this line will not intersect the prints of the outer fingers.
difference between wolf and dog tracks
comparison of wolf and dog tracks
Narysk of the fox resembles the footprint of a medium-sized dog, but the differences are also in the correctness of the gait and the tightness of the paw. Usually the fox walks in one line and, like the wolf, lays out the correct tape. The animal also walks to feed in two, very regular tracks, and can also move in four tracks, like a dog. The fox never makes a trail, and even if he walks certain place several days in a row, then each time he carefully picks up the same trail. In addition, if she walks 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 the hare, but unlike the latter, it never takes notes. While lying down, she turns her head in the direction from which she came. It happens that an animal hides its tracks in a hare's trap. Experienced hunters they are able to distinguish between the tracks of a male and a female - the male's track is round and clean, while the female's is oblong, narrow and not so clean, since the female usually picks up the snow with her hind legs - scribbling.
fox trail
Lynx trail it always has only one constant direction and is very similar to a cat's - it is round, with distinct fingerprints; in this case, the claws are imprinted only in the case of the fastest running.
lynx track
Moose trail larger than a deer's, and the hoof cuts diverge more widely. The moose always puts its legs straight and never “furrows.” Its droppings resemble those of a deer and consist of large hairs of a slightly oblong shape (but they are slightly rounder than those of a deer), which in males usually stick together, but in females fall apart. A bull's track is always rounder and larger than a moose's track.
elk trail
Boar trail resembles a trail domestic pig, only sharper than the last one. In its outline it resembles a footprint red deer(especially if the mark was left by an old cleaver). The difference between a boar track is that the rear appendages diverge in the shape of grouse braids. They are wider than the footprint itself, are printed together with the hooves without gaps, and the distance between the traces is less. The footprint of a male differs from that of a female - the wild boar has larger toes, 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 boar is wider than that of a pig, since it swings its legs to the sides more strongly when walking. The age of the animal can also be determined by the size and depth of the footprint.
Boar tracks in the snow
: (left), otters (center) and martens (right)
POROSHA
Powder is snow that fell at night and ended in the morning. Therefore, only fresh traces of animals that fattened at night are visible in the snow, which greatly simplifies tracking them. Real powders in middle lane Russia usually arrives no earlier than early November. The powder is considered good if the snow is so deep that the footprint is clearly visible on it (and the footprint is continuous, that is, there are no large bare spaces.
The first powder is always formed by snowfall, the next ones can be a consequence of drifting snow. Therefore, powders can be upstream and downstream (drifted). But most often the powder is formed by the simultaneous fall of snow and drifting snow. Powders are divided by depth into fine, deep and dead. Small - if the prints of the hare's front paws are pressed no deeper than the lower joint; deep - if the snow falls at a depth of 10 to 15 centimeters, dead - when it is warm wet snow lies in an even layer 15-20 centimeters thick. Printed is called powder when each claw of an animal’s paw is clearly imprinted on the snow. Such powder occurs when shallow melting snow (warm powder) falls.
Warm powder does not deteriorate by the wind and therefore (unless it stops melting) can last the longest, since after warm powder you can look for fresh traces, very different from the blurred old ones, for two to three or even more days.
Depending on the duration of the night snowfall, the powder can be long or short. The long powder is snow, which quickly stopped, and therefore the animal managed to leave a lot behind. Conversely, a short powder is a short trail because the snow fell all night or even continues to fall. Deep (and especially dead powder) is certainly short, because the animal (especially the hare) 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 for approaching, because the noise made by the hunter scares the animal away.
Powder, good in the morning, can deteriorate or be destroyed by snowfall or drifting snow. In general, after a strong snow drift, tracking is rarely successful. In addition, you need to keep in mind that ground powder can only be in open places, so at the edge and forest glades in the wind, searching for fresh tracks is very difficult. On the contrary, if the drifting snow continues to sweep, then the tracks in the field will be swept away, but under the forest they will be very clearly visible. In the steppes there is almost always wind, and therefore during the day the powder there usually always spoils (with the exception of warm weather).
Traveling powder is the kind of powder when dry snow, like fluff, falls on the frozen ground and does not give the dog any support for its paws while running. With such powder, a dog slides and runs across the frozen ground, as if on ice. Powder is very important for hunting animals, especially hare and also for rifle hunters. They can track the beast on skis throughout the winter.
MALIK
Malik is the entire path of a hare, marked during the night in the snow, from its bed, where it spent the day, to the feeding area (the place where the hare fed), and back to the den. Ability to recognize a variety of hare tracks, is very important especially for those hunters who plan to hunt a hare by tracking.
It is quite difficult to track white hare, and therefore hare are more often “tracked”. It is difficult to see the white hare in winter when lying down; moreover, it very much confuses the passages and often lies down in a “strong” place. In addition, tracking hare is a very tedious task. He greatly confuses his moves, fills paths, runs into the tracks of other hare, circles and makes loops a lot. Therefore, in areas where both hare and hare are found, it is very important to be able to distinguish them by their tracks, which is achieved quite quickly.
From left to right: hare's trail, hare's trail on the crust, hare's trail, hare's trail on the crust
The white hare that lives in the forest, where the snow is slightly looser than in the field, has wider and more rounded paws, the toes spread wider, and the animal leaves footprints in the snow that resemble a circle; The hare's footprint is oval. When the snow is not so loose (with printing powder), individual fingerprints appear. But the hare's hind paw prints are still slightly wider than those of the hare. More elongated and parallel to each other and slightly ahead of each other, the hare's tracks belong to the hind legs, and those similar in outline to a circle and running one after the other, along a line, belong to the front legs.
From left to right: end marks, end marks with discount marks, fat marks, racing marks, racing marks by jumps
A sitting hare leaves a different mark. The prints of the front paws are located almost together, and the prints 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 its paws, the entire pasanka is also imprinted. (In the figure below, the prints of the hind paws with pazankas are shaded.) If we exclude this case (when the hare is sitting), then the prints of the hind paws always remain parallel to each other, and if tracks are noticed in which the prints of the hind paws go apart (i.e. clubfoot) ), then these are not hare tracks, but cats, dogs or foxes when they gallop. The same can be said about a footprint in which one hind paw is significantly ahead of the other.
footprint of a sitting hare
The normal track of a hare is large jumps. In this case, the animal puts out its hind legs almost simultaneously, and places its front legs one after the other. Only when the jumps are very large does the hare put his front paws almost together. The usual tracks of a hare are called end tracks, since with such measured jumps he goes to the fat and returns from it. The difference between fat marks and end marks is that the paw prints are not far apart from each other, and the individual marks practically merge. Such marks are called fat marks because animals leave them where they feed, moving slowly and often sitting down. The hare leaves marking marks (in other words, sweeping marks) in large jumps, which it makes at an angle to the original direction of movement.
With skimpy tracks, the hare tries to hide, interrupt his own trail, before he plans to lie down. Usually there are one or three “discounts”, occasionally four, after which the usual, terminal traces follow again. As a rule, before making a discount, the hare doubles its tracks. The hare's skid jumps differ from the end tracks in the distance between the tracks, and also in the fact that the prints of the front paws are located together. The hare makes racing (excited) tracks when it is frightened from its den - and then the animal goes in big leaps. Race tracks are very similar to discount or end marks (only reverse direction), since the prints of the front paws are closer to the prints of the hind paws of the previous, rather than the same jump.
cleft loop
From the place where the hare sat before dusk, the malik usually begins with fatty traces, which then turn into terminal ones. They sometimes go straight to the fats, where the hare always moves in small “steps”, often stops and sits down. After feeding, the hare sometimes runs and plays, and immediately comes across rutting tracks. Having run up, the animal feeds again, or already at dawn it moves from the fat along the trailing tracks to a new lair. Before choosing a reliable place to lie, the hare begins to meander, again crossing its previous tracks. Sometimes such loops take large areas. At point A, it is rarely possible to say with certainty, without turning the loop, that the tracks belong to the descending malik or that another hare passed here.
It is rare to see more than two loops. After them, “twos” and “threes” begin (doubling or building a trail). In this case, the traces can overlap each other, and here skill and ability are required to distinguish a double trace from a regular one. After a “two,” the hare most often makes a discount to the side, but after a “three” (rare), there are usually no marks, and the animal gallops on for a considerable distance. Usually the hare’s “twos” and “threes” are seen along roads or ridges 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 variable and can vary from five to one hundred and fifty steps. “Deuces” indicate the proximity of the bed, and if a hare after a “two” with a discount goes a considerable distance, changing the discount tracks to the end ones, then this is, as a rule, an exceptional case.
Threes, as a rule, are 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 “throws off” at a right angle to the direction of movement; after several discount jumps there are several end jumps and again a second “two” with discounts. Quite often, Russians are limited to just two “twos,” but there are maliks where the number of “twos” reaches eight or more.