Tracker's Field Guide: A Comprehensive Manual For Animal Tracking

by James Lowery

Overview

Jim Lowery is among North America's leading tracking experts. In this book he distills his remarkable expertise, gained over decades of intensive research and practical field experience, into a comprehensive field guide to tracking North American mammals. Fully illustrated with hundreds of drawings and high-resolution photographs, The Tracker's Field Guide sets a new standard for tracking books.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762792344
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	10/15/2013
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Jim Lowery has taught hundreds of beginning and advanced tracking workshops over the past eighteen years. His school, Earth Skills, located in Frazier Park, California, offers courses and special training in tracking and survival.

Table of Contents

Contents Acknowledgments vii1: Into the Animal's World 12: Clear Print Identification 43: Track Pattern Basics 94: Soil Movement and Track Identification 145: Track Pattern Interpretation 166: Using Pressure Releases for Interpretation 267: Mammal Pages 30 Cats 33 Bobcat 34 Domestic Cat 42 Mountain Lion 46 Dogs 55 Coyote 56 Domestic Dog 64 Gray Fox 68 Gray Wolf 76 Kit Fox 82 Red Fox 90 Rabbits and Hares 99 Black-Tailed Jackrabbit 100 Cottontail 108 Snowshoe Hare 116 White-Tailed Jackrabbit 122 Rodents 127 Antelope Squirrel 128 Beaver 132 Chipmunk 140 Fox Squirrel 148 Gray Squirrel 154 Ground Squirrel 162 Kangaroo Rat 170 Marmot/Woodchuck 178 Mice 184 Peromyscus Mice (Peromyscus Genus) 187 Harvest Mice (Reithrodontomys Genus) 188 Grasshopper Mice (Onychomys Genus) 189 Pocket Mice (Chaetodipus and Perognathus Genus) 190 Muskrat 192 Pocket Gopher 198 Porcupine 202 Red Squirrel 210 Vole 216 Woodrat 220 Weasels 229 Badger 230 Fisher 238 Marten 242 Mink 250 River Otter 256 Spotted Skunk 262 Striped Skunk 270 Weasel 278 Raccoons, Opossums, and Bears 287 Raccoon 288 Ringtail 296 Opossum 304 Black Bear 310 Grizzly Bear 318 Insectivore 323 Shrew 324 Ungulates 327 Bighorn Sheep 328 Burro 336 Domestic Cow 338 Elk 340 Feral Pig 348 Llama 350 Moose 352 Mule Deer/Black-Tailed Deer 356 Pronghorn 364 White-Tailed Deer 370 Appendix A: Mammal List 377Appendix B: Recommended Reading 380Appendix C: Visualizing Home-Range Sizes 396Appendix D: Resources 398Glossary 399Index 402About the Author 408

Editorial Reviews

Jim’s book represents a valuable addition to tracking literature. It is a wealth of natural history information gained from long hours observing animals in the field. For those wishing to expand their knowledge of mammals in the wild, Jim's book warrants long and careful study.”

—James C. Halfpenny, PhD, president of A Naturalist’s World

“Jim Lowery has written a superb field guide based on a lifetime of tracking experience and thousands of hours instructing students in the art and science of this ancient skill. The information he presents is highly insightful and guaranteed to enrich your own journey in tracking.
—Bill Marple, director of tracking at Tom Brown Jr’s Tracker School and founder of Earth Voices
 
“The Tracker’s Field Guide is a truly helpful work of art! Gratitude to Jim Lowery for his user friendly and inviting presentation of the complex and magical world of tracking and connecting to the natural world.”
—Jon Young, author of What the Robin Knows and founder of the 8 Shields Institute
 
“ His formula … is a combination of good photographs, concise drawings and illustrations, wreathed with prose that’s uncompromisingly clear and utterly unaffected. Perusing this book produces an uncanny feel that you stand beside someone on a trail, who is pointing at tracks with a twig and making laconic observations.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
 
“[T]his practical guide includes everything trackers need to make sense of signs and understand an animal’s life story.”
—Book News
 
“Based on real, scientific field experience, this book is an invaluable resource for anyone studying animal tracking around the world.”
—Chris Chisholm, The Wolf Camp and Wolf College

From the Publisher