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

>

      

      Field Guide to

      ANIMAL TRACKS

      and SCAT of

      CALIFORNIA

      Mark Elbroch

      Michael Kresky

      Jonah Evans

      Illustrated by Michael Kresky and Mark Elbroch

      UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

      Berkeley Los Angeles London

      This books is dedicated to all the animals, whose tracks we read.

      _______________

      University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.

      California Natural History Guide Series No. 104

      University of California Press

      Berkeley and Los Angeles, California

      University of California Press, Ltd.

      London, England

      © 2012 by The Regents of the University of California

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Elbroch, Mark.

      Field guide to animal tracks and scat of California / Mark Elbroch, Michael Kresky, Jonah Evans ; Illustrated by Michael Kresky and Mark Elbroch.

      p. cm. — (California natural history guide series)

      Includes bibliographical references and index.

      ISBN 978-0-520-25378-0 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-520-27109-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)

      1. Animal tracks-California-Identification. 2. Tracking and trailing-California. I. Kresky, Michael. II. Evans, Jonah. III. Title.

      QL768.E43 2012

      591.47'9—dc23

      2011014428

      Manufactured in Singapore

      19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

      The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R 1997) (Permanence of Paper).{infcir}

      Cover photograph: Adult male Cougar tracks in snow in the Mojave National Preserve, southern California. Photo by Mark Elbroch.

      The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous contributions

      to this book provided by

      the Gordon and Betty Moore Fund

      in Environmental Studies

       and

      the General Endowment Fund

      of the University of California Press Foundation.

      CONTENTS

       Acknowledgments

       INTRODUCTION

       GETTING STARTED

       Sooted Track Plates

       MAMMAL TRACKS AND TRACK PATTERNS

       TRACKS AND TRAILS OF BIRDS AND OTHER ANIMALS

       Quick Guide to Tracks

       Mammal Tracks

       Bird Tracks

       Reptile and Amphibian Trails

       Invertebrate Trails

       ANIMAL SCATS, URINE, AND OTHER SCENT-MARKING BEHAVIORS

       Scat Plates

       BIRD PELLETS

       Bird Pellet Plates

       MAMMAL SPECIES ACCOUNTS

       Bibliography

       Art Credits

       Index

       About the Authors

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      We would like to thank the production team at UC Press for their enthusiasm, patience, and attention to detail. Thank you to Anne Hawkins for continued support, patience, humor, and deftly negotiating another contract. We'd also like to thank Liz Snair and Alex Huryn, who shared images of mammal tracks and scats, as well as Rick Truex, wildlife biologist for Sequoia National Forest, William J. Zielinski and Ric Schlexer at the Redwood Sciences Laboratory of the USFS Pacific Southwest Research Station, Preston Taylor, Casey McFarland, and Neal Wight for their support and providing us with access to their track plate collections.

      While juggling way too much at UC Davis, many have encouraged me and, at times, even carried me: Heiko Wittmer, Jacob Katz and Kendra Johnson, Bjorn Erickson and Lisa Matsubara, Allison Olliver, Jen Hunter, Maria Santos, Katie Fleer, Phil Sandstrom, Marit Wilkerson, and all those others faithful to Sophia's. Huge thanks to those who support my tracking endeavors: Paul Rezendes, Paulette Roy, Louis Liebenberg, Adriaan Louw, Casey McFarland, George Leoniak, Brian McConnell, Nancy Birtwell, Fred Vanderbeck, and Keith Badger. And last, but not least, thank you to all my family for enduring support and patience.

       Mark Elbroch

      I'd like to thank Meghan Walla-Murphy, Robbie Olhiser, Stephen Mark Paulsen, Thea Rae Altman, Gary Sieser, Elizabeth Cohen, Preston Taylor, Stephanie Pappas of the Chelonian Science Foundation, the Dautch family, Briggitte Cahill, Arianna Palmisano, Jonathan Weber, and Seston Graham for their support, humor, and generosity in making this book