Drawings of animal tracks in the snow for children. Winter walks: footprints in the snow

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! Visual aid on 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 trail is slightly wider than the female bear's, and therefore an experienced hunter can easily distinguish the sex of the 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 They resemble the tracks of a large dog, but since the wolf clenches his fingers more tightly, the lower part of his fingers is more convex, and the track is therefore more elongated and imprinted more clearly 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 away from the other (depending on the depth of the snow and the age of the animal). If a pack is walking, 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 extreme and middle fingers can be separated by an imaginary line, and this line will not intersect the prints of the extreme 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 also lie in the correctness of the gait and the tightness of the paw. Usually the fox steps 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 it 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 are able to distinguish between the tracks of a male and a female - the male's 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, and in females fall apart. A bull's track is always rounder and larger than a moose's track.

elk trail

Boar trail resembles the footprint of a domestic pig, only sharper than the latter. In its outline, it resembles the trail of a red deer (especially if the trail 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 is usually not earlier than the start 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 to a depth of 10 to 15 centimeters, dead - when warm wet snow falls 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 on the edge of the forest and in forest clearings in the wind, searching for fresh traces 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 gun 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. The 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. The hare's tracks, which are more elongated and parallel to each other and slightly ahead of each other, 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 paws 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 spot 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, slowly moving 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 the help of footprints, the hare tries to hide, to 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. Racing tracks are very similar to jump tracks or end tracks (only in the opposite 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 laying, 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.

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 more cards until the baby begins to lay out all the cards on his own.

For teachers primary classes, teachers in kindergartens such a game - great opportunity not only keep children busy with useful activities, but also 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 thoroughly 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 children the opportunity to think carefully, and then time the game. 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.

Every self-respecting hunter should be able to determine by the trail which animal it belongs to, whether it is fresh and in which direction the animal was heading.
This is quite easy to do in the snow.

A fresh footprint in frosty weather is practically no different to the touch from lying snow, this indicates that the animal passed recently, within about an hour.
If, on the contrary, the track has managed to become covered with a frosty crust, then the track is stale and there is no need to look for the animal. special meaning- it has already gone far.
Traces of large animals in the snow harden much faster than small ones.

To determine the direction of movement of the animal, you need to carefully study the track itself, which side of the wall is steeper, and in that direction the animal was heading.
This is due to the fact that the animals take their paw vertically upward, and lower it by dragging it a little,
therefore, the back of the track is always flatter, and the front is steep.

Bear

A bear's footprint is a bit like a human's, only with large claws.

Similar to a dog's, but more strict, due to the fact that wolves do not spread their fingers like dogs.
And the wolf's track looks like a straight line, while the dogs' track wobbles.

Hares love to tangle their tracks, leaving all sorts of loops. Therefore, it is often quite difficult to determine its location - experience is needed

Moose do not like deep snow, preferring a depth of up to 60 cm. Their tracks are larger than even those of cattle.

Similar to a dog's, but smaller and elongated in a line.

Animal tracks in the snow - pictures for children:

/ Animal tracks. Field guide

This manual allows you to determine from photographs and drawings winter time traces of the most commonly found animals on the peninsula. In addition, photographs of traces of birds of the grouse family - partridge and wood grouse - are given. Intended for a wide range of nature lovers, employees natural parks and nature reserves, schoolchildren, students

Download the determinant in PDF format

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 in a three- or four-step 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 by 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 remains characteristic of the leaders water image the life of mustelids is a furrow, 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 they simply drive 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 rear ones being more long paws imprinted in front of the short anterior 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 in the back, one behind the 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 most large mammal from 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, food hooves from under the snow, keep in herds or in large groups, while the elk goes into thickets, small forests, floodplains, eats branches, bark, and always stays 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)

Traces bighorn sheep 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 toes 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. etc. Traces of wild animals 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

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. U forest inhabitants good sense of smell and they 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.