Field Guide to Animal Tracks and Scat of California. Lawrence Mark Elbroch

to further developing your perceptive and intuitive skills. For instance, the registration of toe 1 in the front tracks of the Douglas's Squirrel is a less ambiguous, and therefore more useful, means with which to differentiate their tracks from those of other tree squirrels. Learn to look for and appreciate the details.

      Measuring Tracks

      Here track parameters include nails and posterior pads. Some trackers do not include the nails; however, certain mammal species, including porcupines and pocket mice, rarely register digital pads, and thus measurements would be impossible without them. Also, be cautious to avoid measuring drag marks or the impressions made by feet as they enter and leave a particular substrate; measure the floor of the actual track and not the walls.