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Tracking
Quizzes
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Quiz #7 - Question
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There are 2 groups of photos: the same animal on 2 separate days at the
same location. Neither group
of photos is enough to nail the answer, but looking at the 2 groups
together helps to narrow down the possible choices.
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Habitat: Stream & pond in forested swamp, city park,
suburb just outside of Hartford, CT. The stream flows out of a
marsh, which receives runoff from a "mountain" of yard waste
at the town dump. The pond is man-made, built up along the stream
bank; this forms a narrow peninsula of land in between the pond &
stream. The pond has culverts built into its bank; if the pond
receives a lot of rainwater, it will drain into the stream through the
culverts. |
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Photos E1-E5 are in early January, in consolidated, wet snow. They show
the animal's trail going out of the stream, across the peninsula, into
the culvert, and back into the stream.
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Photos E1-E2 show a distinct 2-2 bounding pattern.
Stride was all over the board, ranging from 9-31", but generally at
15-20" when the animal was at a constant pace.
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Photo E1
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Photo E2
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Photo E3 shows the trail going into the culvert (bottom
trail, going right to left) and out of the culvert (top trail, going
left to right). Note that prior to entering the culvert, the
animal did a belly slide.
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Photo E3
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Photo E4 is a close-up of the belly slide (belly
width = 2½").
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Photo E4
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Photo E5 is a close-up of a pair of tracks.
Footprints are 1" wide by 1¼" long; trail width = 2¾".
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Photo E5
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Photos E6-E10 are in late December, same location, in fresh, soft snow.
They show the animal's trail after having crossed the frozen pond, going
across the peninsula and into the stream. The ice was too thin for
me to walk onto & photograph, but the tracks started at a patch of
open water on the far shore of the pond, suggesting that the animal was
swimming under the ice.
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Photo E6 shows the trail leaving the ice and bounding
up the bank of the pond, traveling right to left. It is hard
to see, but as the animal jumped up from the ice, it left a belly
trough in the snow (again, 2½" wide).
But wait, look at the very right edge of Photo E6 -
the animal left something left behind on the ice. What is
it?
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Photo E6
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Take a closer look, in Photo E7, what the heck is
that? Take a closer look, be careful not to step onto the
thin ice.
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Photo E7
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Oh my gosh, it's a crayfish! (Photo E8; out of
focus.)
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Photo E8
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Photo E9 shows, again, a 2-2 bounding pattern going
across the peninsula. Stride ranged from 14-17".
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Photo E9
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Photo E10 is a close-up of a pair of tracks, which
registered 1¼" wide by 1½" long; trail width = 2¾".
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Photo E10
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Quiz
#7 - Answer |
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(All photos on this page are Copyright © by Brian Booth
or Walter Muma unless indicated otherwise)
To send comments, questions or feedback about these quizzes,
email me |
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Tracking Quizzes |
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