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"Animal tracks."
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Who was here? : discovering wild animal tracks
What animal was here? Can you solve the mystery? Study the picture and read the clues to figure out who left each set of tracks. Then turn the page to find out about animals from around the world. Watercolor and collage illustrations show the many kinds of trails that animal leave behind in mud, snow, and sand.
Book
Field guide to animal tracks and scat of California
Spotting an animal's fresh footprints in the wild can conjure a world for the hiker: Why did the deer tracks disappear? Where did the cougar turn off the trail? What does it mean when two sets of footprints seem to coincide? This beautifully illustrated field guide, the first devoted to the tracks and signs of California animals—including birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates like spiders and beetles—blends meticulous science with field experience to provide an engaging companion for both armchair exploration and easy field identification. Filled with useful tools for the wildlife expert, and essential background and visual aids for the novice, including in-depth information about the ecology of each species, this book goes beyond basic recognition of types to interpret what animals leave behind as a way of \"seeing\" how they move through the world.
eBook
Whose footprint is that?
\"A young, playful nonfiction picture book explores the connections between an animal, how it moves, and its tracks. Companion title to 2017's Whose Poop Is That? Guess the footprints! Written by a mammalogist at the Smithsonian, Whose Tracks Are Those? pairs animal tracks with the respective animal, asking readers to guess which animal left them behind. A page-turn reveals animals ranging from kangaroos to mountain goats in their own habitats.\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Moose tracks!
A homeowner remembers visits from all the animals whose tracks, feathers, and other traces are visible--except for the moose whose prints are everywhere.
Book
Evaluating the accuracy of wolverine identification from photographs of snow tracks by expert observers in North America
North American wolverines Gulo gulo are a species of conservation concern across much of their range. The remote and rugged terrain they occupy has led to the development of various remote detection methods. While visual identification of wolverine tracks has a long history of use, it has recently been considered less reliable than other remote identification methods. We evaluated the ability of 29 observers to identify wolverine from photographs of snow tracks. Each observer reviewed 99 observations: 48 of wolverine and 51 of species whose tracks are confusable for wolverine. The identification of each observation used was independently verified by visual observation of the animal that made the tracks or genetic samples collected from the tracks that confirmed field identification. We compared the performance of observers based on their demographic characteristics and the details present in each observation. Observers demonstrated a low false-positive error rate, cumulatively misidentifying observations of other species as definitively wolverine less than 1% of the time. The only clear demographic predictor of an observer's skill was their level of tracking certification via Cybertracker Conservation. Higher certification levels produced more positive detections of wolverine than did low or no certification. Observations with clear details in individual tracks produced the highest rate of positive detections. Depending on the level of certainty expected, observers detected 75-88% of wolverine observations that contained clear details in the tracks and clear track patterns, with a false-positive error rate of 1.1-3.5%. While the error rate did not increase, positive detections occurred less in observations without morphological details in individual tracks or clear track patterns. Observers called these 'unknown' more often. Our results indicate that observers can consistently distinguish wolverine from other species from photographs of snow tracks and refute the assumption that visual track identification is inherently unreliable.
Journal Article
Been there, done that : reading animal signs
When Cole's visit with his friend Helena nears its end, he asks where all the wild animals are and she takes him on a trail, showing signs of beavers, snowshoe hares, eagles, and more along the way. Includes activities.
Book
Life Traces of the Georgia Coast
Have you ever wondered what left behind those prints and tracks on the seashore, or what made those marks or dug those holes in the dunes? Life Traces of the Georgia Coast is an up-close look at these traces of life and the animals and plants that made them. It tells about how the tracemakers lived and how they interacted with their environments. This is a book about ichnology (the study of such traces) and a wonderful way to learn about the behavior of organisms, living and long extinct. Life Traces presents an overview of the traces left by modern animals and plants in this biologically rich region; shows how life traces relate to the environments, natural history, and behaviors of their tracemakers; and applies that knowledge toward a better understanding of the fossilized traces that ancient life left in the geologic record. Augmented by illustrations of traces made by both ancient and modern organisms, the book shows how ancient trace fossils directly relate to modern traces and tracemakers, among them, insects, grasses, crabs, shorebirds, alligators, and sea turtles. The result is an aesthetically appealing and scientifically grounded book that will serve as source both for scientists and for anyone interested in the natural history of the Georgia coast.
eBook
The great, big paw print
While Sophie and her friends are exploring, they come across a huge paw print, bigger than they have ever seen, and they're determined to find out what could have made it.
Book
Relationships between Human Disturbance and Wildlife Land Use in Urban Habitat Fragments
Habitat remnants in urbanized areas typically conserve biodiversity and serve the recreation and urban open-space needs of human populations. Nevertheless, these goals can be in conflict if human activity negatively affects wildlife. Hence, when considering habitat remnants as conservation refuges it is crucial to understand how human activities and land uses affect wildlife use of those and adjacent areas. We used tracking data (animal tracks and den or bed sites) on 10 animal species and information on human activity and environmental factors associated with anthropogenic disturbance in 12 habitat fragments across San Diego County, California, to examine the relationships among habitat fragment characteristics, human activity, and wildlife presence. There were no significant correlations of species presence and abundance with percent plant cover for all species or with different land-use intensities for all species, except the opossum ( Didelphis virginiana), which preferred areas with intensive development. Woodrats ( Neotoma spp.) and cougars ( Puma concolor) were associated significantly and positively and significantly and negatively, respectively, with the presence and prominence of utilities. Woodrats were also negatively associated with the presence of horses. Raccoons ( Procyon lotor) and coyotes ( Canis latrans) were associated significantly and negatively and significantly and positively, respectively, with plant bulk and permanence. Cougars and gray foxes ( Urocyon cinereoargenteus) were negatively associated with the presence of roads. Roadrunners ( Geococcyx californianus) were positively associated with litter. The only species that had no significant correlations with any of the environmental variables were black-tailed jackrabbits ( Lepus californicus) and mule deer ( Odocoileus hemionus). Bobcat tracks were observed more often than gray foxes in the study area and bobcats correlated significantly only with water availability, contrasting with results from other studies. Our results appear to indicate that maintenance of habitat fragments in urban areas is of conservation benefit to some animal species, despite human activity and disturbance, as long as the fragments are large.
Journal Article