Tracker's Field Guide

A Comprehensive Manual For Animal Tracking, Second Edition

James Lowery

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.

Globe Pequot / Falcon Guides

Pages: 416 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-0-7627-9234-4 • Paperback • October 2013 • $27.95 • (£18.95)

Subjects: Sports & Recreation / Outdoor Skills, Nature / Animals / General, Nature / Animals / Wildlife, Sports & Recreation / Hunting

Tracker's Field Guide

A Comprehensive Manual For Animal Tracking, Second Edition

Paperback

Summary

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.

Details

Globe Pequot / Falcon Guides

Pages: 416 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-0-7627-9234-4 • Paperback • October 2013 • $27.95 • (£18.95)

Subjects: Sports & Recreation / Outdoor Skills, Nature / Animals / General, Nature / Animals / Wildlife, Sports & Recreation / Hunting

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      vii
1: Into the Animal’s World    1
2: Clear Print Identification   4
3: Track Pattern Basics         9
4: Soil Movement and Track Identification 14
5: Track Pattern Interpretation        16
6: Using Pressure Releases for Interpretation        26
7: 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    377
Appendix B: Recommended Reading           380
Appendix C: Visualizing Home-Range Sizes            396
Appendix D: Resources        398
Glossary         399
Index   402
About the Author       408

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

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Features

A Comprehensive Handbook for Animal Tracking in the United States

[Setting] -
Anywhere animals roam, whether forests, fields, brushland, desert, mountains, or even suburban lots.

New features
Now in ful color
Updated text
Range maps now include Canada

Tracker's Field Guide

A Comprehensive Manual For Animal Tracking, Second Edition

James Lowery

Tracker's Field Guide

A Comprehensive Manual For Animal Tracking, Second Edition

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