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MAMMAL TRACKING WORKBOOK II:GAITS & TRACK INTERPRETATION

© Jim Lowery 2014

EARTH SKILLS1113 Cougar Ct., Frazier Park, CA 93225

www.earthskills.com

SAMPLE PAGES

MAMMAL TRACKING WORKBOOK II: GAITS & TRACK INTERPRETATION© 2014 by James C. Lowery

No part of this book may be reproduced without the author’s permission.

Printed in Frazier Park, CA

Acknowledgments

My appreciation to reviewers and field testers Jason Hamilton and his students at Ithaca College.

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MAMMAL TRACKING WORKBOOK II:TRAIL INTERPRETATION by Jim Lowery ©2014

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Purpose of this workbook: What’s in a Trail?

Track patterns with their nuances express a lot more than we trackers usually notice—a richness about ananimal’s speed, posture, mood and personality. Once a tracker has learned techniques to access this depth,and begins taking time to do so, there is no turning back, because an entirely new way of relating to theanimals has taken hold. This is because such track interpretation requires going to the tracks themselves ratherthan to generic knowledge of gaits and patterns: you need to make contact with the animal as it were. The goalof this workbook is to help you learn and practice techniques to confidently read a trail for such richness.

Origin of this workbook

Like many trackers, I was introduced to the basics of track patterns and gaits from classes and field guides,and then invested considerable effort trying to understand systems of animal movement, through reading andfield time. I also learned and practiced techniques to read pressure releases in tracks. But I still faced a sizeablegap when trying to apply theory consistently to the trails before me. Realizing that I needed to understandprinciples of animal movement and balance much more deeply, I set out on a path of personal study. As Ilearned, I shared insights and techniques with students in our animal movement and gait workshops, testingand refining these until I felt our students had a more direct and efficient path to learning this subject than Ihad had. This workbook grew out of these efforts. For beginning trackers, the workbook should propel youforward to new levels. For advanced trackers, I’m confident this will offer a fresh perspective, some newinformation, and good practice in the assignments and exercises.

What is possible and why?

Besides knowing, from the tracks, how fast an animal is going, it’s possible to picture its leg movement, itsshoulder, head and hip position and its posture as well as minute changes in how it moves from step to step,which links to what the animal was sensing and how it was reacting to the terrain; in fact the tracks oftenreveal more than you would notice had you seen the animal move before you. The kernel of wisdom receivedfrom such a complete understanding of an animal in a particular moment is, in my mind, as valuable asreading a journal article about that animal’s behavior.

But how can you know that your interpretation of a trail is correct, since you didn’t actually see the animal?There are two parts to the answer. The first is a belief in the biomechanics of movement. That is, certain legmovement from a given gait and posture results in a predictable spacing of each footfall as well as certainbalance in every track that can be read in pitch, internal pitch and pressure releases1. For example, a lopinganimal lowers and then raises its head and shoulders in specific parts of its gait cycle, which affects how eachfoot lands and pushes forward.

As a beginning tracker, you may accept this principle on faith, but only a lot of study will allow you to own itand rely on it consistently in the field. To learn animal movement, I watched countless hours of video,studied live animals from domestic cats to elk, and learned a lot from our own animal movement workshopswith horses, dogs and captive wild animals, watching different gaits and studying the resulting tracks. The

1 See glossary and sections below for definitions of these terms.


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thorough study of human tracks under controlled conditions has also helped considerably. There is still muchto learn, but my confidence in biomechanical principles has become very high, as will yours as you progress.

The second part of the answer is the realization that a given set of tracks can have been made in only one wayand that it is possible to find that correct answer through analysis and role-playing. This process may beginwith a hypothesis or general image of how your animal moved, but quickly moves to consideration of everybit of evidence: spacing of the tracks, pitch and internal pitch, and motion of each foot with its resulting soilmovement. This is not a top-down analysis but rather is driven by experimentation and visualization. Holdingto the idea that “everything must be right,” each possibility is considered until only the correct interpretationremains. Having done this hundreds of times noticing that a track with its soil movement looked precisely asit should, I became quite confident about this technique as you will also with some experience.

How will you learn to interpret trails from this workbook?

1) You will learn what to do at the starting point—the track pattern itself—what gaits might have created apattern and how to confirm which one was in fact used. [Section I.]

2) You will learn the basic gaits, understanding leg movement and what the feet do when they touch and leavethe ground, with practice visualizing and feeling such motion. [Section II, Gaits for Trackers Videos, andvisualization assignments.]

3) You will learn methods and ideas for finer interpretation of animal movement such as posture, from thespacing of tracks and the soil movement within them. [Section II and Practice Trail Interpretations.]

Practical notes about photos and trail interpretation examples

In recent years I’ve used photos of animal trails both in my own study and with students. Photos have theirlimits, because you don’t know the soil’s consistency or moisture content, you don’t know any slope or smallirregularities in the substrate that would affect an animal’s balance, you can’t see very fine detail with soilmovement, and you don’t have the overall context of the trail. It’s generally much better to read a trail downin the dirt. However you can accomplish a lot with photos, and more importantly you confront what you canand can’t say about the tracks—an important skill transferable to the field. In this workbook, some of thetrack patterns were photographed in sections, with the camera directly above the trail, and these imagesmerged with software. While the photos aren’t a perfect representation of the trail, they are quite accurate inthe spacing of tracks.

In numerous track interpretation examples, I use terms describing pressure releases such as “plate,” “reversedisk” and so forth, which come from Tom Brown, Jr.’s teaching. (See Brown, The Science and Art ofTracking.) Lest you are intimidated if you haven’t yet learned about these, I assure you that soil movement intracks can be visualized and used for interpretation, even in photos, without knowing the terminology orsystem of pressure releases. We do this all the time in our classes. In this workbook I think you can easilydeduce what I describe. Brown’s book, though, is an excellent resource if you want to apply that knowledgemore fully.


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SECTION I: BEGIN WITH THE TRACK PATTERN

Starting with the track pattern before you is the best way to learn to read animal movement in all of its depth.The trail itself, with each print’s unique positioning, pitch and soil movement, provides you with everythingyou need to visualize, verify and describe the animal’s motion. Of course since most trackers have beentaught some system of gait and track pattern classification, it’s tempting, when beginning to interpret a trail,to seek the answer there, in that “system.” We must remember, though, that gait classifications are merelyattempts to describe complicated and variable movement with some structure that helps our understanding.The animals never study these systems and have no interest in moving like they’re “supposed to.”Furthermore, every gait or track pattern system has inconsistencies and partial truths—for example a term fora gait that may associate with several different track patterns, or a term for a track pattern that may associatewith several gaits. To eliminate confusion and get to the truth, you need to go to the tracks themselves. Wehave found that the following methodology most effectively takes you where you want to go:

1. Mark front &hind, left & righttracks.

2. List all the gaits thatcould have createdthis pattern.

3. Use track spacing, pitch,soil movement andvisualization to narrow thechoices to one possibility.

In all following illustrations, hind tracks are darkened.

An alternating pattern with hind tracks partially or completely coveringfront tracks on the same side can be created by a diagonal walk, a fastwalk, or a “B” [“direct register”] trot*.

The stride length, and soil movement or pressure releases will tell you which gait theanimal used. Ideas for learning the baseline of the diagonal walk for certain species,and for interpreting motions such as head turns and head position, are in Section IIA. The “B” trot is covered along with other trot patterns in Section II E.

*See page 27 for my labeling of the four trot patterns.

An overstep pattern with hind tracks positioned ahead of (beyond) thefront tracks on the same side can be created by an overstep / pacewalk, or an “A” [“overstep”] trot.

Comparison of the tracks that would have been on the ground at the same time in atrot vs. a pace, considering an offset of leg movement in the latter, will help determinewhich gait created the pattern. Interpretation of pace walks for head and shouldermovement, and for an animal’s unique characteristics, is covered in Section II B. The“A” trot is covered along with other trot patterns in Section II E.


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An understep pattern with hind tracks positioned behind the fronttracks on the same side can be created by an understep / slow walk,or a “D” [“understep”] trot.

Comparison of the appearance of tracks which would have been on the ground atthe same time in a trot, with the appearance of tracks that would have been madeindividually in a slow walk, contributes to the discernment, as does soil movementin the floor of the track which differs in these two gaits. The “D” trot is coveredalong with other trot patterns in Section II E.

A gallop pattern in groups of 4 tracks in the sequence F – F – H –H can be created by a hopping mammal such as a rabbit orrodent, or by many other species which use this gait for highspeed.

Discussion of baseline differences among species that gallop, visualizing theextent of gathered or extended suspension, recognizing front and hind leads andchanges in them, and finer interpretation of gallop patterns are covered inSection II C.

A lope pattern consists of groups of 4 tracks in the sequence F –H – F – H, or F – F+H – H.

Description of unique leg and body movement associated with lopes, discussionof the baseline for different species, distinguishing three- and four-beat lopes,and interpretation of head and shoulder position from the track pattern, arecovered in Section II C.


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A bound pattern consists of groups of 4 tracks, the hindtracks on top of front tracks, or placed more or less parallelto the front tracks.

Description of leg movement sequence, the baseline for different speciesthat bound, right and left leads, and the context for a bounding gait arecovered in Section II D.

Paired: the only track patterns with hind next to front tracksare a canid or “C” trot, with hind tracks all on one side, araccoon pace walk, with the F / H pairs alternating, and arunning pace.

The “C” trot is covered along with other trotting patterns in Section II E.The running pace, with tracks positioned more or less like the raccoonpace, occurs principally with ungulates and canids, and is seen relativelyrarely.


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B. Overstep / pace walk pattern

In this pattern, each hind foot steps beyond the front track on the same side. This is arelatively slow-moving gait. Note that the identical pattern can have also been made by the“A” trot (see that section), so you must distinguish this “overstep walk” or “pace walk” from atrot.

Leg movement sequence. The movement that creates the overstep pattern is commonlydescribed as a “pace,” in which the laterally paired front and hind legs (for example bothrights) move more or less simultaneously in a lumbering gait. Actually, primarily the camelidgroup, including llamas, alpacas and camels, along with giraffes, tend to show this classic legmovement, while North American mammals that typically create this track pattern actuallydisplay a hybrid gait, in which the laterally paired legs move simultaneously some of the timeand the diagonally paired legs move together the rest of the time.

Learning the baseline. It’s important to know the animal that created the overstep or pacepattern you are studying. Black bears and grizzly bears use the “pace walk” the vast majorityof the time and for them, a departure from this gait into a diagonal walk or lope shouldprompt questions why they do this (for example the former gait when going uphill orwalking in deep snow or high grasses). Striped skunks most often lope when traveling fromone area to another, but depend upon a pace when they are foraging. Spotted skunks alsocreate the “pace” pattern, albeit less uniform than a striped skunk’s, and porcupines typicallyuse this gait. Some other mammals which more often use an alternating or diagonal gait,such as coyotes, deer and mountain lions, may from time to time “pace walk,” and for them

such a pattern invites questions about its significance: For example a coyote may pace for a short distancebetween other gaits or when reacting to an outside stimulus, a mountain lion may pace as an easygoing lazywalk, or an ungulate may pace as a display to other animals. Note also that some long-legged domestic dogbreeds tend to pace as their natural gait.

Questions and opportunities for interpretation. For the mammals that consistently pace walk—bears and skunksfor example—the track pattern can show much about the “personality” or mood of the walker at thisparticular time. The pace is a stable gait lending itself to slow-moving exploration, and in such a movement,the animal’s head and shoulders may swing back and forth to listen, look or sniff in slow motion, pulling thefeet along with them as it were. Such a meandering mood will then be shown by some individual front orhind tracks being “out of line” from the baseline track pattern, and/or pitched and twisted to point away fromthe direction of travel momentarily. With these sorts of tracks, pick a section of the trail and draw the trackpattern showing left and right, front and hind tracks, marking the pitch of each track (the direction it’spointing) as well as any twisting motion evidenced by pressure releases (you can indicate twisting motionsthrough various small-to-large arrows in each track). Then, beginning with a hypothetical pace walk sequence,role-play and visualize the animal’s motion step-by-step until the exact sequence of leg movement, head andshoulder movement reveals itself from the tracks. Head and shoulder movement bring not only the front feet,but sometimes also the hind, to follow it depending upon the exact timing of the motion. A porcupine’spacing trail may also show evidence of its sniffing the air and changing direction as it navigates toward thescent of favorite tree species to eat.


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On the other hand, a pacing animal such as a bear walking a long distance may move with such forwardpurpose that there is little side-to-side motion, and the resulting overstep pattern is very regular. These trails,though showing little variation, are worthy of study to discern the particular walking style of the individualanimal so as to differentiate its tracks reliably from those of another individual of the same species. Forexample, every right hind may pitch slightly outward and then twist back to the direction of travel, or theclaws on one of the four feet may drag out in a unique direction. Draw the trail, noting these nuancesincluding particular toe movement recurrent in, say, every left front track. Such signatures may be so tiny thata tracker would notice them in tracks while an observer watching that animal in real time would easily missthem.

A pace or overstep pattern found with an animal that normally uses other gaits should prompt you to look forits context by studying earlier and later segments of the same trail. Did your animal slow to a pace from a trotor walk? If so, identify the point of transition and see if you can find the particular place of the gait change,reading individual tracks for the head position (up or down) to give a clue about the cause. Did the terraincause the gait change (perhaps going into a hunting area, or achieving a wind break that would mask scent)?In the section of the pace walk, are the steps careful and deliberate? Look step-by-step as in the first paragraphof this section. Where and how did the transition from the pace to another gait occur?

NOW OBSERVE AND PRACTICE:

1. Print workbook pages 37-38 below, “Understanding the Pace or Overstep Walk: Exercisesand Assignments.” Also print the gait practice cards.2. Study the “Pace/Overstep” video at http://www.earthskills.com/gait-videos.html3. Do the exercises.4. Return to the interpretation example on the following four pages.You now understand the pace walk!


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RED FOX TROT INTERPRETATION EXAMPLE

This portion of a red fox’s trail in central Californiawas found near the ocean, where the fox had emergedfrom an area of low dunes with vegetation, proceededtoward the high tide line in the middle of the nightwhere the fox apparently foraged, and was nowheading back toward the dune area. Other parts of thisfox’s trail included a diagonal walk with a 15 ½ inchstride, and “B” and “C” trots both with strides of 17½ to 18 inches.

Marking the tracks by position, toe configuration andfront vs. hind characteristics, the pattern from bottomto top is RF-RH-LF-LH repeating itself to the top ofthe photo where the last two tracks are RF-RH. Wecan rule out a lope because there are no groups of 4,and rule out a pace because the same-side tracks thatwould have been made by feet touching the ground atthe same time in such a gait are too far apart. This canonly be a trot.

The pattern resembles a “C” trot in that all of thehind tracks are ahead of and to the right of theircorresponding fronts, but their positioning strays fromthe classic canid trot illustrated in the section above.Furthermore, neither the LF-RH nor RF-LH pair thatland together points exactly in the direction of travelas is normally the case with one of the pairs in canidtrots. So we must try to visualize just how this foxmoved.

Pair #1 represents the LF-RH that are on the groundat the same time, and from there, the fox’s RF-LH legsmust slide or cross over to the right to land at theposition of pair #2. Therefore pair #1 tracks shouldshow some twisting and leaning to the right, which infact they do: in the front track there is a plate-fissureto the right as well as rotation of the two rightmosttoes.

From pair #2 to pair #3, the fox’s LF-RH legs aregoing straight forward, so pair #2’s tracks should showstraight-ahead motion, which they do. In pair #3,though, there is a lot of distortion that must be


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explained: a substantial plate-crumble has been thrown forward in theLF track, the carpal pad on the back of the front foot has registered,and there is a reverse disk in the RH track. Typically these occur withbraking motion, and in fact in the next pair #4, the F and H tracks arecloser together. The stride, which had been 20 inches, has lessened to17 ½ inches at pairs 4 and 5. After the fox slows down suddenly in pair#3, the RF-LH pair again crosses over to the right, the “side-step”causing a shift of balance to the right seen in both tracks in the #3 pair.

Pair #4’s tracks show deeper internal pitch to the right and a backwardrotation of the rightmost toes, features that would be consistent withthe fox’s head and shoulders turned to the right as it trots forward topair #5. From pair #5 to pair #6, the fox has begun to turn slightly tothe left, but interestingly, the RH doesn’t show the turn while the LFdoes; there must have been a slight offset in landing of these two feet asthe fox changed direction.

Knowing that somewhat inconsistent sand has caused some randommotion with the fox’s balance from step to step, this is as far as we willgo with this interpretation. But, what might have been seen as just ageneric trot, has now become a vivid image of a red fox doing this:long-step trot, cross over long-step trot, long step forward with quickbrake, short-step cross to right, turn shoulders, and bear to the left in aone-two step.

Pair 3 Pair 4 Pair 5 Pair 6

Pair 1 Pair 2


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Understanding Gallops and Lopes: Exercises and Assignments

1. Study the videos. Make notes about what you see regarding leg movement sequence and where the feetland. Also note what variability you see in how each of the four feet land and push off in a cycle.

2. Put your cards on the floor representing each of the following gallops and record/imagine/imitate thesequence of footfalls:

a. Gallop pattern with both gathered and extended suspensions: what is the spacing of the tracks?b. Gallop pattern with neither gathered nor extended suspensions: what is the spacing of thetracks?c. Rotary gallop patternd. Transverse gallop pattern

3. Put your cards on the floor representing a transverse lope and record/imagine/imitate the sequence offootfalls. What spacing of groups is required for a three-beat lope? A four-beat lope?

4. Record/imagine/imitate a lope with shoulders angled to the right. What is the spacing and pitch of thetracks?

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MORE GALLOP AND LOPE NOTES:

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Practice Trail Interpretations

Work through your interpretation of each of the following 10 photos as described in each instance. In eachassignment, you will have to visualize and perhaps role-play as to how the legs move in a certain sequence tocreate the pattern in the photo. With some you will also need to visualize how each foot strikes the groundand moves soil with a given motion.

About role playing: The cards included in the workbook can be put on the floor or ground as you role-playwith hands and feet or hands and knees. Consider though, that some gaits such as lopes and bounds can bechallenging for our human bodies to recreate, and also animals’ leg lengths and centers of gravity differ fromours so that they can often perform some steps that we can’t. So add precise visualization to your evaluation.

About marking tracks:With each photo, it will be essential to mark which tracks are front and hind, left andright. Use your field guide to help between front and hind; in some animals the size of the track or the heelpad shape will be different in front and hind tracks, and sometimes claw length might tell you. As for left vs.right, the five-toed mammals tend to show the inner toe (#1) smaller and set back from the other four. Forfour toed mammals, compare the track to your own hand, not considering the thumb. The second toe fromthe inside (really called the #3 toe in tracking terminology which counts the “thumb” as #1 even if it isn’tthere) is farther ahead than the other toes, corresponding to your middle finger.

When Should You Look at the Answers?

Not until you’ve worked through your interpretation of each assignment! � even if, in the case of the morechallenging photos, it could take a couple of hours of methodical and creative work. If you’re patient andkeep your integrity intact, you’ll feel such a sense of accomplishment. Yeah!


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Practice Trail Interpretation #5 (level: intermediate)

These weathered coyote tracks movefrom top to bottom, and were madeon the edge of Soda Lake in the EastMojave Desert, CA. The substrate is acrusty mineral layer on top of slipperymud.

What gaits are possible?

What gait is the coyote using?

Indicate F&H, L&R tracks.

What is the posture, i.e. shoulder and hiporientation of the coyote? Do the four legsmove independently, or do some land atthe same time?

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The Tracker’s Field Guide (2013)

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track interpretation workbook final - animal trackingdisk” and so forth, which come from tom...

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