Date: various, Winter 2023

Place: various, Guelph ON.

Time: various.

Discussion: we have no snow right now so I am re-looking at some photos of tracks I took last Winter. I have a large number of photos so I can only look at a few at a time! Apologies to Byron for the tracks pics with no tape measure – unfortunately I cannot time travel.

Main references:

‘The Tracker’s Field Guide: A Comprehensive Manual for Animal Tracking’, James C. Lowery, Second Edit., A Falcon Guide

‘Mammal Tracks & Sign: A Guide to North American Species’, Mark Elbroch and Eleanor Marks, First Edit., Stackpole Books

Photos and quick thoughts: the first set of tracks (domestic dog) is the only one that I am a little unsure of. I have indicated my best guess for which tracks are which (with a repeated pattern in the 2nd group of 4 tracks). It helps to remember ‘Lee’s Rule’ and the fact that it is clear that the 2nd track (counting from the bottom of the photo) comes on top of the 3rd track (from the bottom of the photo). Thus the 2nd track must be a hind. Thus I think the gait is a rotary lope (see p. 60 of Elbroch).

The next photo shows a beautiful set of Racoon tracks, doing a classic 2×2 gait, which Lowery (p. 288) calls a Pace.

The next set of tracks (domestic dog) I think represents a rotary gallop (see p. 60 of Elbroch). I have indicated which tracks are which in the 1st photo.

The next set of tracks (domestic dog) represents I think a side trot (p. 53 Elbroch), although each group of 4 tracks is positioned in such a way that they are almost in a line. I have indicated which tracks are which in the 1st photo.

Final thoughts: Please feel free to put me right on these tracks! I am sad that Winter is almost over, but I have quite a few more exciting tracks to share from last Winter. I am hoping that I will get quicker at doing these posts so that I am not discouraged from sharing more often. I know others seem to be able to study directly from the books, but I seem to need actual photos I took to motivate me to learn.