dlstewart's Full Review: Dorcas Miller - Track Finder
Several years ago while in a local mall, I chanced upon this book, Track Finder by Dorcas Miller and illustrated by Cherie Hunter Day. The book is small, easily portable, and I thought it neat to have a handy guide to identify the critters in my area.
Description
This paperback book has a rust-brown cover with illustrations of animal tracks across the front and back cover. The subtitle is: A guide to mammal tracks of eastern North America. Small, this book measures 5 7/8" wide x 4" high. It has 62 pages.
Intended for the tracking novice, this book features pages of various pen-and-ink illustrations of animals with drawings of their tracks. Maps indicate which areas the animals live. Other animal facts are also included on the page (I include examples below).
The book opens with a one-page user guide. It’s simple: 1) Find animal tracks and select a typical section of the track. 2) There are three ways to locate information about the track depending upon whether the track is a “good” one or a “good, clear print”. There is also a map showing the areas covered by the book, which include part of eastern Canada to the eastern section of the United States. The map does not list specific provinces or states and is not detailed.
A brown border across the top of the next seven pages indicate that these pages describe tracking terms and clues to help identify tracks and prints. There are even illustrations that describe the difference between an animal “perfect walking,” “imperfect walking,” “bounding,” and “hopping and leaping”.
There is an index at the end of the book that lists the mammals alphabetically by page number.
Examples
This book covers a lot of information. It has sections that describe: hoofed animals, long-heeled animals, long-toed animals, canines, digging animals, felines and weasel family. Sizes are listed in centimeters. Throughout this section, the tracks reference page numbers for specific animal information.
For instance, under “digging animals” a porcupine is listed with a track measuring 10.5cm. A reference to a page number is given for more information. Flip to that page to view a line drawing of a porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) as well as more illustrations of its tracks (hind and front images) as well as illustrations of how the tracks might appear. (The tracks are marked with letters of the alphabet that correspond with a written description.) A map shows the animal’s territory and a brief list of facts include its habitat (woods), straddle (21 - 23.5cm), stride (13 - 15.5cm), print/front (7cm long, 3.5cm wide), print/hind (10.5cm long, 4cm wide).
Here is an excerpt from the book that describes the porcupine’s tracks: “Prints are toed-in. Long claws leave marks (a). Hind print usually falls ahead of foot print (b). In shallow snow, feet leave drag marks; in deep snow, body makes trough c). In dust or snow, tail may leave whisk-broom type sweeps. During winter, porcupine often stays in or near one tree. Hemlock is a favorite. The ground below is littered with ripped-off twigs and scat.”
This book includes pages like the porcupine for these mammals: badger, beaver, black bear, bobcat, Canada lynx, chipmunks, coyote, fisher (pekans), flying squirrels, gray fox, gray wolf (timber wolf), ground squirrels (gophers), large squirrels, marten, meadow vole (field mouse), mice with white feet, mink, moose, muskrat, opossum, other hares, rabbits, rats, raccoon, red fox, red squirrel, river otter, shrews (pocket mouse), snowshoe hair (varying hare), spotted skunk, striped skunk, weasels, whitetail deer, woodchuck.
Some of the animals listed above are further broken into specific species. For example, “Other Hares” includes the whitetail jackrabbit and the European hare. “Weasels” includes: longtail weasel, shorttail weasel (ermine), least weasel.
My Thoughts
I purchased this book for two reasons. One, I am a writer and am always looking for easy-to-use reference books. I didn’t have a book on animal tracks and thought it might prove useful. Two, during the winter I notice a lot of various animal tracks through my backyard and thought this book would help me identify them.
This book has proved useful. I have successfully used it to identify various animal tracks in my yard. The rabbit and raccoon tracks were the easiest for me to identify. I never expected to become an expert tracker with this book, but it has proved helpful in knowing what critters are crisscrossing through my Massachusetts property.
I also like that this book is compact and contains a lot of useful information. It makes for interesting browsing. If I had to wish for one thing to be different about this book, it would be for some actual photographs of the tracks in nature. However, I’m sure that would drive up the price of this inexpensive volume.
Purchasing
Several years ago, I bought this book new for a whole $2.00. Today, Amazon.com is listing it for $3.50.
Summary
If you have a nature lover in your life, or a child learning about animal tracks, then you can’t go wrong purchasing Track Finder by Dorcas Miller. The low price certainly makes it affordable. This is a great little reference book.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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