If you enter the summer forest during the day, it will seem that only birds and insects live in it. In winter, he can generally appear uninhabited. However, is that it? what gives out the bestial presence - the prints of their paws. The trace of a bear and an elk, a fox and a wolf, a hare and a mouse clearly tells the observer that these creatures inhabit the forest territory.
What is trace freshness and how is it determined?
The observer is interested, and it is important for the hunter to know when this or that trace was left. The animal passed here a few days ago, and maybe hours? Or is it still running somewhere ahead? This is evidenced by such a concept as the freshness of the track.
If it snowed late in the evening or at night, then the trace of the bear’s paw found in the morning will indicate that it is nocturnal and not more than a few hours old. You should beware, because in the winter only a connecting rod bear can leave its prints.
Connoisseurs suggest determining the freshness of the track to the touch. If there is frost on the street and the snow is dry, then at first its borders will not differ in friability from the rest of the surface. Over time, the walls of the trace harden. This process is directly dependent on air temperature. The stronger the frost, the faster the borders of the print become hard. But this applies only to a large beast, for example, if these are traces of a brown bear or a wolf. Because small animals leave prints on the surface. And there hardening is not noticeable.
How to determine the direction of movement of the animal?
To do this, carefully consider the tracks in the snow. Animals large enough in size are not difficult to determine by the size of the print. The observer may notice that his walls are different.
On the side where the track will have a back wall, a flatter edge will be visible. This is because the animal puts the limbs hollow, and takes them out of the snow almost vertically. These borders even have their own names: lug and dragging, respectively. The haul is always shorter than the haul. That is, the front wall is steeper than the rear. Therefore, the beast moved where the drag was directed.
How to find out an animal’s gait in its wake?
In other words, an allure of movement. It comes in two forms. The first is characterized by a slow and moderately fast pace of movement. It stands out step, lynx and amble. The second comes down to running fast with successive jumps. They are already talking about a gallop and a career.
Footprints in the snow of animals left at a moderate gallop are pairs of imprints of the hind limbs. This is because they are repelled by the hind legs and put them exactly in the grooves from the front. Such a gait is characteristic of animals with an elongated body and short legs, for example, marten. If the beast is not in a hurry, then he may not bring the paws to prints. Then groups of three or four tracks appear.
There are small animals that can go into the quarry. These are squirrels and hares. Their gait is characterized by the fact that the hind legs are thrown forward of the front. And the prints on the snow look the same: the front points are behind the rear prints.
Exciting bear tracks
These prints are alarming. Especially in winter or early spring when the beast is hungry. Faced with a bear’s footprint in the snow, one can be relatively calm only in the middle of autumn, when he is hibernating. But you can see its prints in the summer on the loose sand of the riverbank or other body of water, where he came for fishing.
Indeed, it is dangerous to meet the bear and cause its rage. Because it reaches a height of about two and a half meters, and its weight can be more than three centners. Better to get around the beast.
About the Polar Bear Trail
Due to the nature of the habitat, its prints are always visible, unless it has passed on clear ice. Traces of a polar bear are not the same as those of its dark relatives. Fingerprints are clearly visible in the print of his front paw. In addition, due to the fact that he has fewer corns, the outline of the track looks neat. Since the claws of the polar bear almost do not bend, they leave barely noticeable marks in the snow. And this despite the fact that the size of these claws are very impressive!
The hind paw of a polar bear leaves such a pattern as the foot of a man shod in fur. If the snow is loose, then the grooves from the claws will be noticeable. The animal’s fur leaves streaks in the snow near the footprint. It turns out as if a broom was held along the path next to the prints.
What does the imprint of the front legs of a brown bear look like?
This bear footprint always has crisp fingerprints on all five fingers. Five deep grooves are clearly visible in front of these spots. They are formed from long and slightly curved claws. Behind them, a broad imprint is clearly drawn, in appearance resembling a kidney. It remains from the metacarpal crumb. This print on the inside is narrower. Its outer edge is wider.
What is the brown bear’s hind foot print?
Such a bear footprint will always consist of an imprint of the full sole of the animal. It is akin to the picture that would have happened if a barefoot man with a pronounced flat feet stood in the snow. But there is one major difference. The toes of a person are reduced from the inner edge to the outer. On the paw of a bear, everything is exactly the opposite. The toe in the inner part of the foot is the smallest, and the rest grow as you approach its outer part. The claws on the hind legs are much shorter and more bent. But here they leave a noticeable pattern near each finger.
Bear's age in his wake
If we talk about the age of the animal, then it can be determined by the size of the tracks. An example is the size of the metacarpal crumb of the forepaw. Its approximate values are given in the table.
| Width in cm | The age of the individual |
| 5-6 | first-year-bear cub |
| 8-10 | bear of the second year of life |
| 11-18 | adult bear |
| 14-17 | male |
| up to 20 | very large bear |
The length of the print of the hind paws of an adult bear can reach 31 cm. And the "clubfoot" bear received its characteristic by chance. He really puts his paws so that the toe points inward and the heel outwards.
What marks do the bears leave?
In addition to traces on the ground and snow, in the forest you can see other marks that these animals make.
The first thing you should start with is footprints in feeding areas. For example, in the spring, when hungry bears leave the den, they often devastate anthills. Animals destroy their tops in order to get to insects and larvae. In autumn, the bears do not mind eating fruits from trees. In the place of their feeding there are always many broken branches.
The next notable signs of bear habitat are marks on tree trunks. It can be a scratch or a snack, scuff or scuff.
Abrasion is formed from friction on the bark when the bear stands on its hind legs. An animal can scrape a tree with its withers or neck, back or chest. The bear makes a snack by standing on its hind legs and grabbing the bark with its teeth. The beast also makes a bully while standing on its hind legs. Then he pulls the front paw up and pulls it down the trunk. As a result, narrow strips of cut bark appear at the bottom of the tree.
Bear cubs crawl through the trees. At the same time, they grasp the trunk with their front paws. Four long deep oblique scratches remain on the bark. The fifth claw is not involved in this process. Scratches are directed down to the middle. For convenience, the cubs rest against the trunk with their hind legs. In this case, the claws deeply dig into the bark.
