Mammal tracks always seem to attract more interest than others, perhaps because that’s what we typically think about tracking, when we think about tracking…
In our #trackertuesdays #weeklytrackingchallenge we had three answers from three different countries for this one:
Ross Marcel Gariepy (SA) – Zebra, odd toed ungulate or hoofed animal.
Mike Watling (USA) – I’m going zebra (Burchell’s). The size is right at ~100mm long. I’m also cluing in on the opening or notch, at the posterior of the track, to the feature known as the “frog”. I would say the track next to the ruler is a hind as it appears narrower than the track above it. And to overplay my hand, I’ll say left hind of zebra.
Stuart Wedge (UK) – At first, I too thought Zebra but then saw the difference in shape between front and back feet. Looking closer the front foot is rounder and the rear is longer. The size is quite large too so I’m pretty certain it’s Buffalo.
These are zebra tracks, although they can, and often are mistaken for buffalo and other hoofed species. The key feature to differentiate them is the number of toes. There is only one, continuous toe at the top, or leading edge of these tracks. Buffalo, and all our other bovids, porcids, and antelope would show two toes. But, it’s not always easy to tell!
As Mike mentioned, the “frog” in the back of the track is also a good feature to look for, and it is present in equids, including donkeys and horses, which can be very easily confused with zebra tracks in areas where they overlap. I’ve been in evaluations where just the frog of a zebra track was circled, and asked out-of-context. This is one of those tracks that looking at “crappy tracks” (Assignment 20, The Tracker Mentoring Manual) would benefit someone who has only seen clear, obvious, entire zebra tracks.
If you don’t know, the idea behind looking at “crappy tracks” is that they are always your best teachers, and you should pay attention to not just the clear, entire, beautiful examples of tracks, but also the crappy ones in between the beautiful ones. It’s those partial, weathered, obscure tracks that will teach you how to identify a species even when the track is three days old, half driven-over, and not part of a sequence.
The ruler is next to a longer hind foot, and the front foot is slightly rounder and larger. We often see this size difference in animals that walk on their toes, and attribute the bigger size in the front to the need to support the weight of the head and the neck of the animal.
Other articles you may find interesting
- Scrub Hare Urine, South Africa
- Namaqua Rock Mouse Nest – South Africa
- Introducing Tracker Mentoring! (And, introducing the tracks of the Crested Barbet!)
