Footprints in the winter forest. Practical classification of animal footprints. Animal Tracks Lesson

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 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. At all the moose is coming heavy, in loose snow sinks deep 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

The tracks of a brown bear are 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:

Many animals live around us, but most people have only seen stray dogs and cats just walking on the street. Wild animals They are very careful and even hiding in the forest it is not always possible to notice them. Forest inhabitants have a good sense of smell and can smell you from several kilometers away. They will not show themselves because they are afraid of humans. But you can always see animal tracks in the snow, wet ground or sand. Like in the cartoon about Masha and the Bear: “Who was that walking? A bunny?” Now we will reveal to you all the secrets of the tracks.

Animal tracks

The hare has long hind legs, and therefore the trail of the hind paw is also long. This is when the bunny is in no particular hurry. But when he runs away as fast as he can, there are no traces to be made out, only a couple of holes at a jumping distance.

The footprint of a squirrel is splayed fingers. The trail of the hind paw is again longer than the front one.

The footprint of a deer or roe deer is a hoof print, and not a simple one, but a pair, because there are 2 hooves on the leg. It’s not for nothing that deer are called artiodactyls.

The wild boar is also an artiodactyl. Its track is slightly similar to that of a deer, but wider and shorter.

Weasels have small but wide paws and wide footprints.

The badger has similar tracks, but larger in size.

Do you see the footprint of a small dog? It could be a fox.

And if the tracks are large, then perhaps a gray wolf was here before you.

And it’s quite rare to see the tracks of a clubfooted bear.

Now, walking in winter forest, you can find out what animals live here.

In the practice of tracking, in most cases, the determination of whether a trace belongs to one or another animal is made at first sight, by impression. If necessary, then further more or less detailed study is carried out. The ability to identify a footprint is quickly acquired, of course, with experience, but it can be accelerated if you divide the footprints of animals into groups according to their common features, the most noticeable, conspicuous.

Signs may relate to a burrow, a trail, paw prints, their size, shape - it doesn’t matter if they are noticeable and characteristic. The same type of traces may include traces of animals belonging to different systematic groups, not related by close phylogenetic relationship, but having similar footprints. That's why we call this classification of traces practical, designed to facilitate the practice of tracking. In all other cases, when considering animals, we adhere to the vertebrate animal system adopted in the main manuals in the Soviet Union (Sokolov, 1973, 1977, 1979; Kartashov, 1974; Bannikov et al., 1971).

The usefulness of the practical classification of traces and the timeliness of its introduction are evident from the fact that some zoologists use the expressions “types of traces”, “traces different types"(Dulcate, 1974), without, however, giving them the meaning of classification units.

For tracks whose characteristics are not given here, the tracker himself can draw up a description, make drawings and, through observations, determine which animal they belong to.

Hedgehog type of tracks. This type of paw print is distinguished by its rather long, spread-out toes. The trail is wide and the steps are short. This type of trace is characteristic of small ones; animals - hedgehogs, water rats, hamsters, mole voles (Fig. 1, a - h).

Rice. 1. Hedgehog (a - h) and mole (i, j) types of tracks (cm)

a - trail track common hedgehog; b - paw prints of an ordinary hedgehog (2.8X2.8);
c - trail track long-eared hedgehog(2.0X1.8); d - f - prints of front and hind paws
water rat (1.7X2.4 - 1.9X2.4); g - mole mole track on the sand
(1.4X1.4 - 1.6X1.5); z - trail track gray hamster; and - the trace path of the European
mole on loose snow; k - Mogera mole trail on dense snow

Mole type of tracks. It is very difficult to see the footprints of moles on the surface of the soil or on the snow cover: moles rarely leave their holes, and if this happens, the substrate is not always soft enough for the tracks to be imprinted. In winter, you can still find mole tracks in the snow. The track of these animals in the snow is a groove in which the prints of their hind paws are visible, located at a close distance from each other. The front, digging paws leave only weak imprints: they take little part in moving along the surface. The length of the step barely exceeds the width of the trail (Fig. 1, i, j).

Type of tracks of shrews and mice. These are the traces of the most small mammals. The larger hind paws of shrews, mice and voles leave paired prints, behind which, at a slight distance, are smaller prints of the front paws. On loose snow, their tail leaves a more or less long groove. In addition to galloping, animals can trot, and paw prints on the trail are not located in pairs, but sequentially (Fig. 2, 3).

Rice. 2. Type of small mammal tracks

Tracks: a - c - shrews of the small shrew; b - on short jumps,
c - on long ones; d, e - shrubs with the first powder; e - a large specimen of the bank vole;
f - half-adult wood mouse

Rice. 3. Type of traces of mouse-like rodents and shrews

Paw prints and tracks: a, b - field mouse;
c - a small specimen of a gray vole on loose snow; g - larger specimen
gray vole (its trail is similar to the two-beaded pattern of a small weasel);
d, c - shrews of the common shrew on shallow snow; f - piebald
shrew shrews - on the sand

Dog type of tracks. This type includes traces of fast running animals. The front paws are five-toed, but the first toe is located high and does not leave a mark. The hind legs are four-toed.

Claws, finger crumbs (one per finger), metacarpal and metatarsal crumbs are imprinted on the ground. The tracks are varied, but one of them is very characteristic: the paw prints are covered and located in one line. The canine type of tracks is left by animals from the canine family, and also, apparently, by the cheetah (Fig. 4).

Rice. 4. Dog type of tracks

Paw prints and tracks (cm): a, b - dogs; c, d - wolf (9.6X7.5);
d, f, g, i - foxes (6.2x5.0); h - the right front paw of the karaganka -
small steppe fox(5.6X4.6); k, l - foxes on loose snow (6.6X5.3);
m - gallop of a fox in deep snow; n - hind leg of the desert Turkmen
foxes on damp sand (6.5X3.5); o - small Turkmen corsac on the sand (4.5X2.7);
p, p- raccoon dog (4.4X3.6)

Bear type of tracks. Traces of this type are left by very large or medium-sized animals, plantigrade, with bare soles and long claws (rarely the soles of the feet are covered with hair). Hind paw print area more area front traces. The tracks are most often covered. This type includes traces of all types of bears, badgers, honey badgers, porcupines, etc. (Fig. 5).

Rice. 5. Bear type tracks (cm)

a, b - prints of the front and rear right paws of a brown bear (15.0X15.0 - 27.0X14.0);
c - g - trail of a brown bear; h, i - front and hind paws of the Himalayan bear;
j - slightly overlapped badger tracks on muddy ground; l - imprint of the front paw of a badger (6.0X6.0); m - imprint of a badger's hind paw (8.0X4.3); k, o - prints of the front and hind paws of a porcupine (8.5X6.0 - 8.5X4.8)

Kuni type of tracks. This type includes traces of representatives of the mustelid family, which have an elongated body and short legs. The main gait is a gallop, which corresponds to a two-bead pattern characteristic of mustelids, alternating with a three- and four-bead pattern. The track is most often found in the snow in winter, and rarely in summer (on the ground) (Fig. 6 - 10, 11, a).

Rice. 6. Kuni type of tracks (cm)

a, b - prints of the weasel's front and hind paws (1.5X1.0 - 1.5X1.2);
c - prints of the front and rear right paws of an ermine (2.5 X 1.7-2.5 X 2.0);
d - prints of the hind paws of an ermine on soft snow; d, f - weasel tracks;
g, h - prints of the right front and hind paws of a pine marten (4.3X3.6-4.3X3.7);
j, l - prints of the left front and hind paws stone marten(3.7X3.3-4.4X3.5);
and - prints of four paws of a pine marten on deep loose snow;
m, n, o - pine marten trail at different gaits

Rice. 7. A badger’s footprint in the still deep spring snow
Primorsky Krai (orig.)

Rice. 8. Mustel-type tracks and mustelid paws (cm)

a, b - the front paw of a pine marten and its imprint on wet compacted snow (4.3X3.6);
c, d - the front paw of a stone marten and its imprint on wet compacted snow (3.7X3.3);
d - imprint of the front paw of the harza (4-7X5-8); f, g - traces of the harza, overtaking the musk deer by jumping on the snow compacted by the wind; h - stone marten trail;
and - Kharza trail; k - four-bead and three-bead sable; l - hind leg of a sable;
m - two-bead sable; n - sable trail in deep loose snow - four paw prints merge into one large depression

Rice. 9. Mustel type of tracks and paws of animals from the mustelidae family (cm)

a, b - front and rear right paws of the column; c - front left paw of an American mink;
d - paw prints of a large forest polecat on the mud (3.1X3.4-4.4X3.0); d - paw prints of a forest polecat; e-trace column (2.5X2.5-2.6X2.4); g - track column on silty wet soil; h - track column in deep snow; and - paw print of a European mink (3.2X2.7); k - two-bead mink on loose snow; l, m - imprint of the front and rear left paws of a forest polecat (3.2X2.8-3.0X2.4); n - trail track (four-bead) of a forest polecat in the snow

Rice. 10. The trail of the kharzas, who were taken away and hidden
pieces of meat from young people they killed sika deer

Rice. 11. Kuniya and otter track types

a - trace track of a small dressing on jumps (2.4X2.0-2.7X2.0 cm);
b- otter paw prints on river ice dusted with snow;
c - otter trail on damp sand

Wolverine type of tracks. A wolverine's footprint consists of prints of front and hind paws with large claws. Sometimes the first finger is not imprinted. The length of the paw mark is 15 cm, the width is 11.5 cm. The track is straight, “purposeful” (Fig. 12, a).

Rice. 12. Wolverine (a), raccoon (b), squirrel (d), horse (c), types of tracks
a - prints of the front (left) and hind paws of a wolverine (up to 15.0X11.5 cm);
b - prints of the front (left) (6.0x6.0 cm) and rear (9.0x5.0 cm) paws of the striped raccoon;
c - kulan trace on fine-crushed desert soil (11.0X8.5 cm);
d - traces of two hind and one front paws of a thin-toed ground squirrel

Otter type of tracks. The otter's hind legs are five-toed, with the toes connected by membranes. The metatarsal crumb is long, but is completely imprinted only when walking slowly. The front paw prints are most often four-toed. When walking, the trail looks like a wavy line; when galloping, it looks like a four-legged pattern, consisting of four paw prints located along one line obliquely relative to the direction of movement of the animal. In loose, more or less deep snow, the otter's body leaves a furrow. The tail often draws a stripe on the snow and even on the ground. For now, we only classify as this type of tracks the tracks of one animal - the otter (see Fig. 11, b, c).

Raccoon type of tracks. Raccoon paws and their prints on the ground are distinguished by deeply divided toes. These are the limbs of a plantigrade animal with well-developed claws. The tracks are similar to those of a muskrat, but larger. The raccoon's front paws are five-toed (the muskrat's front paw print is usually four-toed, since the first toe does not reach the ground); on the raccoon's trail there is no strip from the tail, which is characteristic of the muskrat's trail (see Fig. 12, b).

Cat type of tracks. Such traces are left beasts of prey the cat family, specialized in the “fast” form of running (canines - in the “endurance”). When chasing prey at a gallop, the tracks of their four legs come together. There are no claw marks, since they are known to be retractable (Fig. 13 - 16).

Rice. 13. Cat type of tracks

Paw prints (cm) and tracks: a, b - domestic cat on the mud of a salt marsh (3.4X3.2);
c - d - Caucasian forest cat (4.5X3.7): c - rear, d - front (3.9X4.6);
d - front leopard (12X12); e - leopard trail; g - left front European wild cat; e - wild cat in the snow; and - jungle cat, or Hausa,
on sludge (5.0X6.0); k - trailing house track at slow speed; l- snow leopard trail
while walking and jumping; m - lynxes on a snowdrift in spring (the hair on the soles is almost
completely faded - 7.0X6.0); and - snow leopard (7.8X7.5)

Rice. 14. Leopard tracks in deep snow

Rice. 15. Cat type of tracks

Paw prints (cm) and tracks: a - front and hind paws of a tiger (16.0X14.0);
b - outlines of the digital and metacarpal crumbs of a male (left) and female tiger of the same age
- 7 years (shown on the same scale); c - diagram of the digital metacarpal and metatarsal
leopard crumbs; g-d - tiger trail: g - on fine snow,
d - on deeper snow cover (the hind paws are placed in the prints of the front paws
- covered trail); e - trail track when moving at a trot (stride and
dragging); w - jumping of the attacking tiger

Rice. 16. Tiger tracks on the powdery ice of the river
The legs slid and therefore the tiger spread his fingers and sometimes extended his claws

Horse type of tracks. This type of footprint is easily recognized by the imprint of one toe (hoof) on one foot. This includes footprints of a horse, donkey, kulan and other representatives of the horse family (see Fig. 12, c).

Deer type of tracks. On the trail there are hoof prints of the third and fourth toes. On soft ground, as well as after fast running, marks of the second and fifth toes often remain. The deer type of tracks includes tracks artiodactyl mammals(Fig. 17, b-k; 18, 20).

Rice. 17. Camel and deer types of tracks

Traces (cm) a, e - camel; b - red deer 8.7X6.0); c, g - European red deer (9.7X5.6);
d - 6 year old male red deer running (9.3X7.0); d - sika deer (7.2X5.2);
Tracks: h - red deer calf; and - female red deer;
k - four rosary of a red deer

Rice. 18. Deer type of tracks

Hoof prints (cm) tracks: a - male fallow deer at a gallop (without stepsons - 8.0X4.6);
b - female fallow deer (5.4X4.0); c - male roe deer (4.8X2.7); d - roe deer galloping on soft ground;
d, f, g - male (10-15Х8-14) female and calf elk; n, o, p - their trails;
h - trail of a male fallow deer; and - the trail of a deer at a gallop;
k - trail of a female fallow deer; l - trail of a female roe deer;
m - four-bead roe deer at a gallop

Rice. 20. Ungulate tracks

Hoof prints (cm): a, h - reindeer (length with stepsons 15);
b - musk deer fingers in the normal and extended position; and - musk deer hooves in the snow;
c - goats (6.6X4.3); g - sheep (6.0X3.7); d - the front leg of the chamois (7.2X4.3);
e - hind leg of chamois (7.0X3.5); g - goral (front hooves - 4.0X6.0, rear - 3.0X3.5);
m, n - chamois at a gallop; k - female saiga (6.0X X4.3); l - male saiga (6.6X X5.4);
o, t - goitered gazelle (5.4X3.1); p - wild boar (length with stepsons - 12.5); r - wild pig (8 years);
c - young wild pig

Camel type of tracks. The imprint of a camel's foot consists of a wide rounded sole, on the front edge of which there are two nails (see Fig. 19 a, f).

Hare type of tracks. The trail is shaped like the letter T: the prints of a pair of hind paws are located on a line perpendicular to the direction of movement of the animal, and the prints of the front paws are behind them along the axis of the trail. This type of tracks is typical for hares and pikas, for representatives of the gerbil subfamily of the hamster family (Fig. 51, a - f).

Rice. 21. Hare (a - f) and squirrel (f - n) types of tracks
Prints (cm): a - brown hare on the sand (back - 17.0X6.0, front - 6.0X3.8);
b - white hare in deep snow (rear - 18.0X10.0: front (8.5X4.5);
c - tolai hare on road dust; g - Manchurian hare in the snow;
d, f - Daurian pika (3.0X1.3-2.1X1.7); g, h - midday gerbil (1.1X1.0-1.4X1.4);
and - proteins (2.7X2.6-5.6X X3.1); k, l - flying squirrels (1.7X X 1.3-2.0X1.4);
m - large gerbil (2.0X1.2-3.5X2.8); n - hind leg of the Amur long-tailed
gopher (3.5X3.3) (Orig.: a, c - Karakum, b - Yaroslavl region; g - Primorsky Krai;
d - n - according to Formozov, 1952)

Squirrel type of tracks. In rodents of the family of squirrels and gerbils, the quadruplet has a trapezoidal shape: the prints of the front paws, like the prints of the hind paws, are located along a line perpendicular to the direction of movement of the animal (Fig. 21, g - n; see Fig. 43, d).

Muskrat type of tracks. Such traces are left by semi-aquatic animals. The toes of the hind paws are connected by an incomplete swimming membrane (muskrat) or edged with hard hairs (kutora) The footprints are long The track is wide, the steps are relatively short On soft ground, a trace from the tail may remain. 22)

Rice. 22. Muskrat type of tracks

a - muskrat trail (3.4X3.6-8.4X4.3 cm)
Prints (cm): b - front paws of a muskrat, c - hind paws of a muskrat, d - front and hind paws of a beaver, d - rear right paw of a muskrat (5.6 X 1.8), f - front right paw of a muskrat
(2.6 X 10), w - front paw of nutria, h - hind paw of nutria
(a - according to Formozov, 1952, d, g, h - according to Kalbe, 1983, d, e-orig, Yaroslavl region)

What can a footprint in the snow tell? An experienced tracker can not only find out which animal left a particular trace. From the trail you can determine the animal's sex, age, and sometimes physical condition.

We won't pretend to learn to follow the trail of giving full description animal. Let's just learn to guess the animals by their tracks.

Whose tracks are these?

Hedgehog and mole type of tracks

a, b - an ordinary hedgehog, c - a long-eared hedgehog, d, e, f - a water rat, g - a mole vole, h - gray hamster, and, k - mole.

Type of tracks of shrews and mice

a, b, c - shrew small shrew, g, d - kutora, e - red forest vole, and - wood mouse.

a, b - harvest mouse, c, d - gray vole, d, f - shrew common shrew, w - piebald shrew.

Dog type tracks

a, b - dog, c, d - wolf, d, f, g, i - fox, h - karagan fox, k, l, m, n - fox, o - Turkmen corsac, p, p - raccoon dog.

Bear track type

a-zh - Brown bear, h, i - Himalayan bear, k, l, m - badger, o - porcupine.

Kuni type of tracks

a, b, d, f - weasel, c, d - ermine, g-o - different types marten

a-g, h - marten, d, f, g, i - kharza, k, l, m, n - sable.

a, b, f, g, h - polecats, c, i, j - different types of minks, d, e, l, m, n - forest polecat.

a - dressing, b, c - otter.

Wolverine type of tracks

a - wolverine, b - striped raccoon, c - kulan, d - thin-toed ground squirrel.

Cat type of tracks

a, b - domestic cat, c, d - Caucasian forest cat, d, f - leopard, g, h - European wild cat, i, k - reed cat (house), l, n - snow leopard, m - lynx.

Deer track type

a, e - camel, b - wapiti, c, d, g, h, i, j - different tracks of a red deer, d - red deer.

a, b, h, i, k - fallow deer, c, d, l, m - roe deer, d, f, g, n, o, p - elk.

a, h - reindeer, b, i - musk deer, c - goat, g - sheep, d, e, m, n - chamois, g - goral, k, l - saiga, o, t - gazelle, p - wild boar, r, s - wild pig.

Hare type of tracks

a - brown hare, b - white hare, c - tolai hare, d - Manchurian hare, e, f - Daurian pika, g, h - midday gerbil, i - squirrel, j, l - flying squirrel, m - great gerbil, n - Amur long-tailed ground squirrel.

Muskrat type of tracks

a, e, f - muskrat, b, c - muskrat, d - beaver, g, h - nutria.

Of course, most of these tracks will not be found in the forest near big cities. Only avid hunters know these tracks and their owners. But you can’t have too much knowledge, right?

Photo: http://zoomet.ru, uralhunter.com

Tips on how to become a hunter tracker

Scattered everywhere in Nature infinite set various traces - from very small, barely noticeable gnaws and passages of larvae in seeds, leaves, thin bark of branches, to enormous destruction caused by earthquakes, mountain falls, hurricanes, snow avalanches. In the narrow hunting sense, footprints usually include birds, the paths they have made through snow, loose earth, damp silt, in soft forest litter or on a carpet of mosses and lichens. Clear, clear tracks, by which one can determine not only the species, but also the age and sex of the animal, often make it possible to trace the entire path of the animal from one resting place to another, or, as hunters sometimes say - rip out, go out his daily journey. However, all this information will be open and useful to you only if you know how to read the tracks of animals and birds. And, in our publication today, which will be useful to young hunters, we will tell you how to become a pathfinder who can read the book of Nature...

Why be able to read traces?

By skilfully using the tracks and having walked a fairly long route through fresh powder, you can easily establish where, how many and what kind of game animals and birds are found in the area you have examined, which lands are now more densely populated by them, and which less frequently. In short, along the fresh snow, along the white trail, a lot of things that are not noticeable along the black trail in the fall become completely obvious already at the beginning of winter. First of all, this applies to hidden nocturnal animals, which cannot be found during the day; it is almost impossible to raise them from their beds and see them (especially if you do not have a specially trained one).

Such reconnaissance in the first days of the hunt ensures the correct balance of forces and the appropriate use of available time. But also animals that are active during the day, for example, hazel grouse, pheasants, white and white, leaving their piles in the snow, show us where they feed and take shelter at night. However, even when hunting along the black trail, one cannot neglect the traces of this game. In the fall, for example, during the days of hunting hazel grouse with a squeak, it is useful to note places where you come across fresh droppings on the roads and trails. The fact is that hazel grouse willingly run out onto the roads to collect grains of sand and gravel and pinch fresh grass. Where you find their droppings, you should definitely attract them, hiding behind the trees in advance. The hazel grouse is a sedentary bird, its autumn residential area is no more than 200-300 meters in diameter, which means that the pika will be heard in almost all corners of this area. But, this technique is useful only where hazel grouse are distributed unevenly, in spots, but where there are a lot of them, you can attract everywhere.

How to learn to read footprints

The ability to recognize tracks and firmly know their species differences is the ABC of a hunter-tracker. Anyone who does not master this technique will not be able to read tracks, and therefore will not be able to cope with tracking and searching, or, more simply, will completely lose the opportunity to hunt some types of animals.

The soft lamellar surface of the snow perfectly imprints traces of both large and small animals. Particularly accurate prints are formed during a thaw on freshly fallen snow, 3-5 centimeters thick. These are the so-called printing powders; they often fall out in the pre-winter period, and then in the spring, on top of a dense crust. From such traces, at least write a picture, at least take photographs. It’s from them that it’s worth starting to study the alphabet of traces. It’s good, of course, to have an experienced instructor, but even without one, provided you are persistent and patient, you can achieve good results.

It will be useful to get acquainted in advance with the traces of domestic animals - cows, pigs, goats, dogs, cats, goose, chicken, pigeons and others. The tracks of a wolf, for example, are quite similar, at first glance, to the tracks of a large shepherd dog, the tracks of a cow resemble those of a large boar, etc.

It is from comparisons and comparisons that many details of traces become clear that would otherwise go unnoticed by you.

To determine the type of animal by foot prints, it is also important to take into account the size and shape of the tracks of the hind and front legs - they can be the same or, on the contrary, very different, like in hares and squirrels, the number of toes on them, the size and shape of callous thickenings, the presence or the absence of claw marks, their length, the size and shape of the hooves, the ability of the toes to move more or less when moving from dense soil to loose or muddy soil. And finally, perhaps most importantly, celebrate mutual arrangement foot prints and step or jump length.

Animal tracks in the snow

When the snow is deep and loose, the outlines of the tracks on it become blurry and indistinct, not at all the same as with printing powder. The heavy animal wades and sinks heavily in the snow. The edges of the track holes crumble, furrows stretch between them, and the entire path of the animal or large bird It is a deeply plowed ditch with a string of unclear holes where feet have stepped. When determining such a footprint, you have to use not the signs of foot prints, but how the holes are located, how deep they are, what is the length of steps, jumps, and the width of the path as a whole, as well as a whole sum of signs that we call animal's signature style.

When walking, the animal rests either on the entire foot - plantigrade animals, otters, etc., or only on the tips of the toes - digitigrades - cats, foxes, corsacs, all ungulates, etc. In animals that often dig up prey, the claws of the front paws are significantly longer and straighter than on the hind legs. In cats, which grab prey with sharp, steeply curved claws, they are retractable and do not leave imprints on the trail, since they are hidden under the soft part of the fingers.

Most animals fast races throws its strong hind legs ahead of the front ones, leaving a weaker trail, and is pushed off by sharp blows from the hind legs. This is what wolves, foxes, roe deer and other animals do at a gallop. And, for hares, squirrels, chipmunks, such jumps are a common type of running, with which paw prints are shown in fours, more large footprints The hind legs are located wider, in front and to the sides of the smaller forelegs, which often lie in a line one after the other. The usual small trot of a wolf, fox, or corsac jackal is characterized by the arrangement of prints in one line - in a chain or string. The hind legs fall exactly into the tracks of the front ones and are positioned strictly according to the imaginary midline animal body. Of the dogs, only good ones can maintain this type of run for a long time, while most others leave marks in the form of a double line of prints or a broken, angular stripe, as they place their legs scattered. A double row of prints of a wolf or fox is left only where they walk slowly, warily, sneaking up on prey or trying to sneak past people unnoticed. In addition, foxes' legs begin to become entangled, and the chain of prints loses its clarity when a well-fed, tired animal goes to a secluded thicket to lie down in the morning. In convenient places in mild weather, you can approach a sleeping fox for a shot, taking such a trail stretching from the fields where she moused, to thickets of weeds, thickets of small forest in swamps, steppe ravines... About.

The arrangement of prints in close pairs or triplets is typical for sable, marten, ferret, mink, weasel, and ermine. The prints of the right and left feet are located side by side, adjacent to one another on the middle line of the footprint. When jumping, the hind legs fall exactly into the tracks of the front ones or slightly go beyond them. Jumps are usually longer, and for the ferret, ermine, and weasel, their length constantly changes, and the entire path of the animal reflects many sharp turns in one direction or the other. The traces of such a shuttle move resemble the outline of a saw, while the shuttle of a mouse fox has a wavy curve with smooth turns and large deviations to the right and left from the main direction, usually chosen by the animal taking into account the direction of the wind.