Mammal Tracks & Sign: A Guide to North American Species

by Mark Elbroch, Casey McFarland

Overview

The most comprehensive reference guide to mammal tracks and sign for North America. This new edition is more visual, with more than 1300 photos and 450 illustrations for easy comparison and identification of similar sign. Each species account includes information on tracks and trails, scat and urine, nests and lodges, as well as sign on the ground, in trees and shrubs, on fungi and on plants. Winner of the 2019 National Outdoor Book Award for Outdoor Classic Books.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780811737746
Publisher:	Stackpole Books
Publication date:	08/23/2019
Edition description:	2nd Edition
Pages:	680
Sales rank:	528,731
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Dr. Mark Elbroch is a recognized expert on wildlife tracking. A Master Tracker certified by CyberTracker Conservation, he is Director of the Puma Program for Panthera, www.panthera.org. Mark's work with mountain lions has been featured on BBC and in National Geographic, Scientific American, and the New York Times. He has authored and coauthored ten books on wildlife tracking and natural history and has won the National Outdoor Book Award for his field guides, including the first edition of Mammal Tracks & Sign. He is a regular contributor to National Geographic's News Blog and a regular guest on NPR. He lives on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington.

Casey McFarland is a Senior Tracker certified by CyberTracker Conservation and a Senior CyberTracker Evaluator. He works internationally to train and certify biologists, research teams, and the public and runs courses on track and sign identification throughout the world. His is coauthor of Bird Feathers (Stackpole, 2010) and Peterson Field Guide to North American Bird Nests (to be released in 2019). He lives in Cedar Crest, New Mexico.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition v

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

Chapter 2 Mammal Tracks and Track Patterns 11

Chapter 3 Runs, Paths, and Eskers 111

Chapter 4 Scats, Urine, and Other Secretions 125

Chapter 5 Nests, Lodges, and Other Constructions 177

Chapter 6 Sign on the Ground: Beds, Scrapes, Wallows, Digs, Burrows, and Dens 191

Chapter 7 Sign on Fungi, Herbaceous Plants, and Cacti 235

Chapter 8 Sign on Trees and Shrubs 251

Chapter 9 Interpreting Prey Remains 307

Chapter 10 Species Accounts 377

References 639

Acknowledgments 649

Index 651

About the Authors 673

Editorial Reviews

In its relatively short life, Mark Elbroch's guidebook about mammal tracks has become a classic.   It is, after all, the most comprehensive guide available on the topic, eminently useable and filled with hundreds of photos and illustrations.  In addition to visual and textual material on how to recognize tracks, Elbroch includes other clues helpful in making an accurate identification including scat, urine, ground and plant signs.”—National Outdoor Book Awards

From the Publisher

Reading sign has always been the distinguishing hallmark of those skilled in woods craft, whether as subsistence hunters, sports hunters, natural historians, or merely individuals interested in understanding more about the habits and habitats of wild creatures. The author, a noted authority in the fields of tracking and preserving traditional tracking skills, brings an ideal combination of practical experience and careful research to this work. The text covers 135 species, providing full-size track illustrations plus scat photos for numerous animals. The result is a meticulously written account that furnishes far more detail than earlier guides, such as those by Olaus Murie and Tom Brown. A definitive treatment, Elbroch's book will set the standard for years to come and is essential to anyone interested in tracking this continent's mammals.-Jim Casada, Outdoor Writers Assn. of America, Rockhill, SC Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal