Book Description

More popular than ever, Tom Brown, Jr.'s unique approach to inner growth through outer awareness has gained a wide audience, ranging from weekend campers and nature lovers, to serious survivalists and college students.The Science and Art of Tracking expands upon Tom Brown's most enduring subject: the important life lessons to be learned through tracking skills. Tom Brown was taught the ancient skills of survival by a Native American he called Grandfather. His most advanced lessons were those of the scouts, members of a secret society who were highly attuned to nature. The scouts refined tracking to a disciplined science and art form. With these physical skills came enhanced perception and true enlightment. "Tracking was their doorway to the universe," Tom Brown writes, "where they could know all things through the tracks..."Now Tom Brown, Jr. shares generations of wisdom through one of the most rewarding pursuits to be found in nature. Tracking lets us unlock the secrets of each animal we follow, and in turn, to become more aware of our own place in nature and the world. It is a journey of discovery that engages the senses, awakens the spirit, and enlightens the soul. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

TRY IT FOR YOURSELF-NO TALL TALES HERE
THIS BOOK TEACHES THE BARE MINIMUM YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT TRACKING. BASICALLY, EVERYTHING YOU LEARN IN TOM'S STANDARD ON TRACKING IS OUTLINED VERY NICELY IN THIS BOOK. THIS BOOK WILL NOT ONLY HELP IN YOUR AWARENESS OF ANIMAL TRACKS BUT ALSO OF EVERYTHING IN YOUR LIFE. IT TEACHES YOU TO LOOK CAREFULLY AT EVEN THE SMALLEST DETAILS. THIS IS THE ONLY COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO TRACKING ON THE MARKET THAT I KNOW OF. IF YOU SEE ANOTHER BOOK REFERING TO "PRESSURE RELEASES," YOU KNOW IT CAME FROM TOM BROWN JR.. SOME PEOPLE SEEM TO THINK THAT THE DETAILS IN THIS BOOK ARE JUST TALL TALES. DO A QUICK EXPERIMENT IN YOUR GARAGE. CHECK OUT THE DUST ON THE FLOOR IN THE MORNING GET DOWN CLOSE TO THE GROUND , USE A FLASHLIGHT TO GET THE FLOOR BETWEEN YOU AND THE LIGHTSOURCE. IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU WILL EASILY SEE THE TRACKS OF ALL THE LITTLE CRITTERS THAT HAVE BEEN ROAMING YOUR GARAGE AT NIGHT:MICE, BUGS,CATS ETC. MY GOODNESS, YOU'VE JUST TRACKED AN ANIMAL ACROSS SOLID ROCK. JUST ONE OF THE SIMPLE THINGS REVEALED IN A CONCISE MANNER IN THIS BOOK. NO TALL TALES HERE BELIEVE ME

Charlatan
Brown's revelation of pressure releases is nothing new. Any tracker worth his or her salt knows Brown's new revelation is just common sense. Trackers have been using this technique for centuries. Brown's "adventures" with grandfather are fiction. Brown is a charlatan who couldn't track a muddy-footed elephant down a dry sidewalk.

Bummer!
I'm very disappointed! Having read this book, I couldn't track an elephant across a mud flat in broad daylight. I think the problem is all the psycho-babble pop philosophy this book is crammed with. It gets in the way of communicating any real information to the reader. That plus I found myself wondering how "Grandfather" could see his own feet at the age of 92, much less see ant tracks on solid rock. It's probably just me.

Try it for yourself!
This is a great book for beginning trackers and nature lovers. The book shows how anyone willing to put forth a little effort to go out and practice and get some "dirt time" can learn to follow even the tiniest tracks across the most difficult surfaces. Tom uses a common sense method of tracking that examines a track in terms of "pressure releases." For example: a heavy foot displaces more "dirt" than a lighter foot, a foot traveling fast will displace more "dirt" to the rear of the foot than a foot moving slowly. By measuring the size of these pressure releases one can tell a myriad of things about the creature one is tracking: its size, its direction of travel, its speed of travel and its head position. Eventually, by studying micro-pressure releases inside the track one will also be able to tell whether the animal has a full stomach, whether it is male or female and dozens of other cool details about the animal. Tom will teach you how to see the animal as you track it. Some people seem to doubt whether the stories Tom tells are real or not. Kevin below states that there are no oak trees in Montana. This is false. The bur oak is abundant in the state of Montana and it grows up to 70 feet high sometimes. The best use of this book I feel is to use it in your everyday life. It teaches one to look at the details of life one might miss.

Is he for real?
All of Tom's books have been very interesting and inspiring, but there is something that makes me wonder if he is for real. However, the science and art of tracking was very good and I have had success with most of his concepts. He has a lot to share, I'm sure, but I don't know if I would take all he says for 100% true. For instance, In The Search, "weathering out a bad storm in the top of a giant oak tree in a national park in Montana." In Montana!!?? I live in Montana and there is not one single oak tree in the whole state. Tom is obviously fudging here for sake of and interesting story. I would recommend all of Tom's books and the morals and principals he expresses in them, and his wilderness guides are very well done, but just be aware. Kevin ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (6)

One of the best on this subject
One of the best books on this subject
This book covers much more than tracking fundamentals, it gives you a clear picture on how to conduct a patrol in hostile territory with lots of detail and fist hand experience. Examples are vivid and realistic; writer has obviously been there and done that. I read some other books on this subject but others are more inclined towards pure military operations. I would recommend this book to a search and rescue teams and trainers as an excellent theoretical base. It also has several chapters on how to train other people with clear and easy to comprehend instructions. Not to forget this book is an easy reader (unlike some other books on this subject). Highly recommended.

Good Reference for Tracking
This is a very good reference for tracking. I would suggest this book if you are going to do any type of tracking. I use it as a reference for our Search and Rescue Team.

Ted Fisher
Vermilion County Search and Rescue

Best Tracking book I've seen to date
The SAS Guide to Tracking is one of the more thorough guides to tracking available today. It is a thick volume in comparison to similar books but is filled with useful information. It details the more common tracking techniques and gives very informative descriptions not only of what you are looking for but why you should look for particular signs and what they mean. It covers various techniques for various terrain types, surface vegetations and track aging. All in all one of the best books on tracking that you could purchase today. I will warn you that while it covers technique and sign reading it does not cover the tracks of various animals to any significant extent, but then again it would be a much larger book if it did and given the thoroughness of the text perhaps a separate book on animal tracks would be warranted. Unlike most tracking books, it does cover tracking people very well.

Best book to LEARN tracking
I'm certain an experienced tracker would learn from this book, however, I am a beginner. I am really learning to follow track.

This book covers minute details and then puts them together for you in sections on deductions based on the sign. It's super! I probably own 5 or 6 other "tracking" books. They are mostly pictures of tracks books...not how to find and follow sign books. The difference is important to me. I will now be able to take those books into the field for what they are best as: track identification guides. The SAS Guide to Tracking will have taught me to follow the sign.

If you want to learn how to follow a track from someone who must rank among the world's experts, this is THE book. I am not saying the other books are a waste, but this book lays it out.

BTW - Just this morning I was able to follow the sign of a cow moose and its baby through heavily fouled snow across my property. I couldn't have done that just a week ago.

Hits the mark
Wow, what an interesting book. It's easy to tell that Mr. Carss knows of which he speaks. Although written by a person with a military background the information contained within covers the spectrum of who could benefit from the information and training scenarios. Whether it's mantracking or animal tracking the reader is primarily interested in, the lessons, training and observations are real and proven and usable whatever your arena is. Although there are more persons (Wilderness Search and Rescue)who would prefer to track at night than the book leads you to believe it is definately one that deserves to go on the top shelf......for quick reference. ... Read more

Amazon.com

A good observer of nature, walking, say, in an oak forest, may discern that some of the acorns on which he or she is treading are broken into little bits. After reading wildlife interpreter and photographer Paul Rezendes's guidebook to animal signs, that same observer will be able to tell which of those acorns have been split by human footsteps and deer hooves and which have been gnawed apart by squirrels--and by what species of squirrel. A wonderfully thorough, well-illustrated compendium, Rezendes's text covers a wide range of North American animal species, including rodents, hoofed animals, bears, raccoons, opossums, and members of the weasel, rabbit, dog, and cat families. He describes not only the signs these animals leave but also their ways of life throughout the year, and with an appropriately environmentalist purpose. "Ultimately," Rezendes writes, "tracking an animal makes us sensitive to it--a bond is formed, an intimacy develops. We begin to realize that what is happening to the animals and to the planet is actually happening to us." He's right, of course, but one need not take such a macrocosmic view of nature to take pleasure in, and learn from, this fine book. --Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Best tracking book
Detailed accounts of wildlife encounters. Personal stories put you in the shoes of the tracker. Great pictures and examples of animals and their tracks. Easy to read, loaded with information. A must have for field work.

Excellent introduction
This book provides an excellent introduction to reading animal tracks. In the first chapter the author explains why we should try to understand the tracks around us in the forest, and what we might see. He then delves into the kinds of observations we need to make, such as trail widths and trail patterns and scat. The rest of the book is divided into chapters by animal family, including chapters for rodents, rabbits, weasels, dogs, cats, bears, and hoofed animals. There is also an extensive bibliography and index.

Each chapter is comprised of short articles about the specifics of tracking the individual animals that make up the family covered in the chapter. Rezendes provides a short informative description of the animal with a color photograph. The descriptions cover behavior, range, and diet. Rezendes also includes black and white photos of the animal's feet, both front and back. The next section of the article covers tracks and trail patterns, and it includes illustrations or diagrams, photographs, and typical trail width and stride measurements, as well as a lot of information to help you sort out this critter's tracks from all the others out there. He also includes short sections on signs, such as dens, food caches, kill sites, and scat, also with photographs or illustrations.

I purchased this book after moving out into the country because I wanted to identify the critters that visited at night leaving their tracks in the snow around our house. I found Rezendes' approach captivating and easy to understand, even as a beginner. Rezendes explains how tracks can tell us much more than just the identity of an animal- -through a careful study of tracks, you can determine how fast the animal was moving, whether it was browsing, being chased, or chasing another. This book is a highly informative reference; it's also a delightful read on a blustery winter afternoon.

Best Tracking Book to Be Found
This is a truly magnificent tracking book. The book has no pseudo-spiritual dribble about tracking ants across rocks or pressure points; it is full of useful information, and it is clear that the author is as genuine of an expert naturalist as they get. He shares an incredible wealth of information on how to examine and analyze the wilderness from a microcosmic level. The photography is outstanding and the descriptions of animal signs are excellent. Being a survival instructor, I have read many fine books on tracking animals and observing their signs, but I have never read one that I learned more from than this one.

My First Choice
I do a lot of tracking, both animal and human. I have read most books on the subject in print. This book is excellent for the beginner and expert and focuses on animal tracking. Rezendez helps the tracker learn both the animals track characteristics and its living habits. If I had to recommend only one book on tracking, this would be it, hands down.

To the Korean Reader
I know the lacking of the tracking guide about Asia-region's Mammals.
This book is written for the NorthAmerican Mammals.
So, there is no information about our Asia-specific mammals.-for example,Tiger.-. A few animals is like asian species.
But, We can use this book for the same Genus Animals on our region to the American species. And if you like the world-wide Mammals, this book is recommanded very very strongly.

Genus in this book :

Peomyscus sp.;Zapus sp.;Napaeozapus sp.;Tamias sp.;Tamiasciurus sp.;Sciurus sp.;Glaucomys sp.;Marmota sp.;Erethizon sp.;Ondatra sp.;Castor sp.;Sylvilagus sp.;Lepus sp.;Mustela sp.;Martes sp.;Lutra sp.;Gulo sp.;Mephitis sp.;Spilogale sp.;Didelphis sp.
;Procyon sp.;Vulpes sp.;Urocyon sp.;Canis sp.;Felis sp.;Ursus sp.;Odocoileus sp.;Ovis sp.;Rangifer sp.;Cervus sp.;Alces sp;Bison sp.; ... Read more

Book Description

A sighting in the field is just one way birders can identify bird species. Observant nature-lovers can discover what birds are where by examining tracks, trails, and a variety of bird sign: discarded feathers, feeding leftovers and caches, pellets, nests, droppings, and skulls and bones. This fully illustrated guide-the first of its kind for North American birds-presents thorough and straightforward instruction for identifying birdfamilies or individual species by careful examination of the unique sign they leave behind. It also offers keys to the birds' behavior in the wild.Includes songbirds, waterfowl, owls,shorebirds, warblers, woodpeckers, nightjars, and birds of prey. For trackers, birders, and nature-lovers. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Great gift for that serious birder
This is a guide to identifying bird families or individual species by clues they leave behind of their presence. The title may appear, at first glance, to be a typo. It is not. As the authors explain on the first page: "Sign refers to all the possible signs of their passing: sign of feeding, gathering material for nesting, the nests or cavity holes themselves, pellets, droppings, feathers lost during molt, or kill sites."

This book appears to be packed with too much information for a beginner to digest. But its actually quite good for anyone who is interested in birds and would use such a book more than once or twice. The information is organized by types of sign - tracks, feathers, feeding signs, droppings, nests and roosts, etc., rather than by species. This allows you to read about whichever subject you're interested in and to take in the basics behind, say, interpreting signs of feeding, rather than getting bogged down by details specific to a certain species.

Due to the nature of the topic, the squeamish may not enjoy all the pictures. However, the pictures are certainly not as gruesome as they could have been.

In the introduction, one of the authors writes: "real tracking is bigger than one lifetime. Tracking, as our ancestors knew it, was a body of knowledge handed down from generation to generation. Each person added to this knowledge..." The authors clearly see themselves as a continuation if this process, referring to and giving credit to other excellent books, such a Rezendes' "Tracking and the Art of Seeing".

To my knowledge, this is the only book like this specific to birds. I feel this would be an excellent gift idea for that hard-to-buy-for bird watcher.

petervtamas@mail.com

At Last! Something that actually contributes to the Field!
Call me cynical but in the last twenty years I have seen field guide publishers recylce the same old info over and over again, just adding a new tabulature or color photos. The text is minimal and always leaves me wanting more.

Not so with this book! Mark and Eleanor have created something that goes well beyond any field guide currently on the market concerning birds! This stuff is new and never before seen except for experienced birders in the field. It is easy to use, fun to use and it will help anyone learn more about birds, their habits and sign. The photography is stunning as well.

I cannot over-recommend this book. Go get it, now!

Ricardo Sierra

A gorgeous birder's guide for all ages and skill levels.
Collaborative written by Mark Elbroch and Elanor Marks, Bird Tracks & Sign: A Guide To North American Species is a gorgeous birder's guide filled cover to cover with full-color photography on thick, glossy, sturdy paper. From bird trails and feathers to pellets and nest, bird signs of every shap, size and format are presented, described, and lavishly illustrated. Portable, authoritative, and "user friendly", Bird Tracks & Sings is very highly recommended for North American birdwatchers and aspiring ornithologists of all ages and skill levels.

For beginners too!
I'm a beginner birder and tracker - When I first saw this book, I thought, fat chance, I probably can't even identify the birds' feathers or tracks because I'm still so new to the birding and tracking worlds. Still, I kept it around just in case - and when I found a feather or a track, I'd look up it in the book. It would take me less than a few minutes to discover the owner of the feather and tracks! That's thanks to the handy quick reference chart on the inside cover of the book! I now know I can go out and have fun with this book!

Tremendously Useful, Beautiful, and Creative Field Guide
Mark Elbroch's and Elanor Marks "Bird Tracks and Sign" is a gem.

No self-accliamed naturalist, tracker, birder, or nature educator should be without a well-worn copy in years to come.

This book fills a niche long absent from teh worlds of animal tracking and birding. What a wondrous blend of dazzlig photographs, informative text, and practical information. ... Read more

Book Description

Designed to help readers more fully understand how animals live and survive in the wilds, this guide is a must for every nature explorer. Detailed line drawings and text reveal clues found in an animal's tracks that help identify it. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

This is a very good book, cool illustrations
I fount this a very well Illustrated book, the pictures are incredible, and I liked the way to find the tracks they are located int the top corner of the book so when you move quickly among pages you can easily find any track...

Considering that this is a pocket guide, it is very complete, I found it very well for beginners, because it is not complicated to locate and identify tracks.

tracker
I found this small inexpensive book a worthwile purchase. The drawings for tracks were't very informative, however pictures of the species are excellent. With the brief descriptions of the animals reads more like a pocket field guide than a tracking manual. ... Read more

Book Description

Who has traveled this trail before you?Scats and Tracks of the Pacific Coast will help you determine which mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians have passed your way and could possibly be nearby.With written descriptions accompanies by illustrations, this guide features the tracks, scats, and other signs of 70 different species occurring from Santa Barbara to British Columbia.Also included are useful body size comparisons and easy-to-use track length and scat width measurements for each species.This guide will let you know if a snake, coyote, or even a grizzly bear has been your way. Written by experienced tracker and scientist Dr. James Halfpenny, Scats and Tracks of the Pacific Coast proves that droppings and footprints have a story to tell. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Now I Know What Animal Left That Track
This small field guide supposedly covers the extreme western United States, but many of the animals illustrated also range into the the Northern Rockies and western Canada so this book is useful for most of western North America. There are two pages for each of the 70 mammals, birds and reptile/amphibians. Every animal has a small-scale range map, overall sketch, sketch of its droppings, large sketch of forward and rear footprints and a sketch of the pattern left by several footprints. I found the latter especially useful since many times the individual tracks are not too clear, especially in sand or dry snow, but the track pattern provides a positive identification. This lightweight, pocket-sized format makes it convenient to carry. Highly recommended for hikers, campers and nature buffs. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (4)

Even Native Americans reference this book.
If you go to the Natural Resources Commission office of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Petoskey, Michigan, you'll find The Complete Tracker on their reference bookshelf. If it's good enough for a tribal biologist to use as a reference, this book is certainly good enough for me.

an illustration about what you step on in the woods!
Seriously, Mr. Mc Dougall has put together an informative book about the art of tracking. I gave this book to my wildlife biologist husband and he gave it a thumb's up which is worthy of 5 stars.

For a lay person such as myself, I have learned so much from the handy, transportable book. We spend alot of time outdoors, and I enjoy pulling out our various compact resource books to enhance the experience. This book is appropriate for all levels of tracker interest and certainly goes into more information than simply identifying scat. The book offers at least 80 drawings to assist in track identification of approximately 45 species of wildlife. You will gain knowledge as to age of scat (when was the animal here) terraine conditions, habit details, behavior, and potential for danger to humans. The guide is perfect for hiker, hunter and nature enthusiast. This is a great time of year (summer vacation) to promote more than campfire s'mores..bring this book along with you on your next outdoor adventure and spark true appreciation for what surrounds you. (and what you unknowingly trample on!)

This book is incredibly easy to use.
I'll just be walking through the woods, when I see some scat. I think its deer, but I figure I'll check and see how old it is. Yup, it's deer...no tracks are on the ground though. Take out the book, in no time I know signs and habits of whitetail deer. The Complete Tracker is handy for anyone who's outside...even a 13 year old!

Great for naturalists!
I have been to Tom Brown's Tracker school in New Jersey and own several tracking books. This is a great book for people who want to know an overall knowledge of the most common animals in the US. This is not a book completely about the art of tracking. If you are into that get Tom Brown Jr. The Science and Art of Tracking. ... Read more

Download Description

Whether you're on the lookout for a kit fox, or trying to steer clear of a bear, Scats and Tracks of the Desert Southwest, by nationally reknown tracker and author Dr. James Halfpenny, helps you recognize what critters went before you and is a primer for ... Read more

Reviews (1)

excellent book!!
I found this book to be informative and very user friendly, especially since it is hand held size, making easy to take into the field. Halfpenny also gives accurate measurements of track size and gait patterns for each species and a brief description of the animals. In addition, there is a strong emphasis on the scat of each species with very detail drawings. There is also a section on the tracks of various bird species. a must for everyone interested in tracking in the southwest. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

First Choice for ease of use and good sketches
Begins with an intro which covers generalizations about tracking animals in snow, and even covers how to preserve tracks made in snow. Pencil drawings provide clear detail and pix of the animal as well as its tracks. Range maps included (book covers USA. A good balance between adequate coverage and so much info that you become overwhelmed. This is good for beginner to intermediate trackers. Book is focused on mammals. Only one spread on birds. This book is standard gear on my winter hikes. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent descriptions, but disappointing photos
This book had excellent descriptions of tracks and habitats of different animals in North America, but I was disappointed in the photos. Most of the photos of tracks were in snow, not dirt or mud. Also, in order to get a description of track size,you must read the text. There were very few pictures of scat and other signs as well. This is a good book if you want to sit down and read about animal tracks and signs, but a poor reference in the field. If you want a field book, look elsewhere. ... Read more

Book Description

Includes descriptions of the habits, habitats, tracks, signs, and ranges of all the mamals of North America.More than 1,000 illustrations show individual tracks, different track patterns, animals in their habitats, droppings, and gnawed trees - every type of clue the tracker needs. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A must-have tracking classic
When I was a kid running a trapline in northern Michigan, this was the book I carried in my rucksack. Today, more than 35 years later, I've written 2 books of my own on the subject of tracking wildlife, but this book is still on my bookshelf. Olas Murie was a true American pioneer who led the way into an area where no one else had gone before him. He established the first standards, and while modern genetic and other scientific techniques have increased our knowledge of wildlife manifold over what was known in Murie's day, it was he who laid the foundation on which the rest of us build. This book is a must-have for every tracker's library.

Good and comprehensive guide, a little difficult
It is a good and comprehensive guide, it has a lot of animal tracks, I found it a good and complete guide, but honestly sometimes I had a lot of difficult tryng to find some kind of tracks that I found.

In my personal opinion I think that this is a very good book for experts on the field but not so good for beginners in animal tracks. And by the way it doesnt have any color illustration, and altough they are not needed I was very familiar with peterson guides and this one is a little different.

A very useful guide
My wife and I have found this guide to be very useful in interpreting the sign left behind by the creatures resident in our northeastern woods, not only tracks but scat as well (with hundreds of detailed drawings of scat it is as much a guide to those leavings as tracks). The extensive behavioral descriptions are equally useful. I am not clear on the basis for the criticisms contained in the other review concerning animal harassment. Dr. Murie was a dedicated conservationist and President of The Wilderness Society after his retirement from the Fish and Wildlife Service and his respect for the creatures he is describing is evident on every page. While he acknowledges that some tracks were obtained from live-trapped animals, it is clear from the book that the overwhelming mass of the data is from direct field observation from a life spent in the outdoors.

good book
very down to earth. dos'nt go into detail

earliest version of tracking, collected specimens to study
Interesting way in which early biologists studied animals. Should have a foreword explaining that methods in book are not recommended to observe wildlife (trapped to collect specimens and harrassed wildlife in order to study their behavior). ... Read more

Book Description

This book, an enlarged and updated successor to Mammal Tracks and Signs: A Field guide for South-Eastern Australia (winner of the Whitley Award for the Best Field Guide in 1984), covers all Australian states and territories, contains hundreds of new illustrations and extensive new text, and is formated for easy identification of the visible traces left by mammals in their passage. It is divided into four forms of classification: drawings of 'perfect' tracks matched with photographs of the same tracks in sand or mud; color illustrations depicting scats of 128 species of mammals--with a distribution maps and habitat information--along with pellets and scats of birds, reptiles and invertebrates; detailed descriptions and over 70 color photographs of the distinctive traces of mammals at shelters and feeding sites; and 40 full page plates of skulls, lower jaws, humeri and femurs covering the more commonly found species, plus a detailed guide covering all mammal groups.Naturalists are becoming increasingly aware of the value of the indirect methods of finding and identifying mammals. This handbook of detection will be an essential companion to be kept in the pocket, backpack or car for constant ready reference. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Fantastic Book with Hard to Find Info
This is a fantastic book. All very useful information, hard to find all in one place. I don't know of any similar work for the general reader.

Nothing compares to being able to know that an animal you rarely or never see actually lives in an area and has passed by recently. The descriptions of footprints and the drawings were clear enough that I was able to determine an exact species from macropod (from a good set of prints) on the basis on the footprint alone. This also matched up with the expected distribution for this species (also shown in the book, next to its scat picture). I haven't come across any random bones in the bush yet to be able to identify from the descriptions given in the book, but the section on bones is as clear and concise as the rest of the book.

The coverage of other sorts of signs (scraping, scratch marks, etc) is also quite handy and clear.

There are some improvements I would like to see in any future editions. I would like to see a scale marker in *every* single scat picture. This would be preferable to taking all the photos at the same scale (which they mostly seem to be) because at that scale the droppings of the bats become very hard to distinguish. The *ideal* I think would be to have all the pictures at 'life size' from a particular distance, with a zoomed-in picture with a scale marker.

*All* the pictures should be in colour (except the skeletal pictures). Each scat should have a description, and a picture of an unbroken and a broken pellet. Some are like this, but not all. The description for the scat could describe the changes in the scat throughout the year as the diet of the animal changes. This could at least be done for all the common and well-known animals.

The other problem with the scat pictures is that they are of varying ages. The colour changes greatly with age (very fresh = very green, aging to various shades of brown). Some of the pictures are of semi-fresh scats, and the others are quite old.

However, these issues do not detract from the usefulness or quality of this edition - I just hope to see some extra features in any future editions!

It is a massive task to collect all this information and pictures, and even though this book is the only one of its kind that I know of for general readers, I am sure that if there were other books on the same topic, this would still stand out as a high quality and invaluable resource for australian naturalists!

Useful field guide.
This is an extremely useful field guide for lovers of wildlife in Australia. Many animals are nocturnal and leave only small clues to their presence. With this guide I have been able to sleuth out a number of previously unobserved species. The descriptions of tracks, scats and traces are clear and thorough and there are many useful photographs, illustrations and distribution maps. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

mystery tracks
If a person is interested in knowing the creatures leaving their tracks behind, this is an excellent book. The approach is unusual in that it treats each set of tracks as a story with the reader of the tracks to determine the solution from the evidence left behind. ... Read more