Tracking Challenge - November 2011

4/11/2011

Who's track is this?

Hi, and welcome to our first monthly Tracking Challenge!

This track was left in our special Tracking Box (see future posts for info on how to make your own).

So, firstly, who left this track? (was it Lee, Gina or Blaise? just kidding :)

If that's easy for you, was it a right or left foot? Front or rear foot? How can you tell?

And what are those fluffy yellow things scattered around? What does that tell you about what time of year it was? (the photo is not necessarily a recent one)

What can you tell about the recent weather? Does this tell anything about when the track was left?

So, give us your answers below. The most complete and accurate answers will win an awesome mystery prize.

And if you can think of any more questions we could ask of this track, be sure to share them with us too.

Have fun, trackers!

blue skies,

Lee

9 Comments

camilla

7/11/2011 12:33:24 am

ok i'll have a go, wombat left front foot, recent rain in spring with wattle flowers

Lee@Bluegum

7/11/2011 12:46:27 pm

Good tracking!

Can you say how you came to those conclusions?

What makes you think it's a left foot rather than a right, for instance?

And how do we know it isn't a wattle that flowers in summer?

Nice work, Camilla.

dave but really camilla again

7/11/2011 02:15:47 pm

right foot, cause the claws are turned in with the posioning of the toes tappering away to the right. front foot because of the big claws. Wattle flowers and rain fell after the print was made. unsure of the time of year.its hard to tell when we cant see the other prints. excuses excuses

charlie link

7/11/2011 04:43:34 pm

a size reference would be great. I like to drop a dime or quarter near the track for reference.
But, my guess is left front foot of a bear or badger, female and young.
Yellow things are flowers that fell after the track and after the rain. Track was made before the rain. There is an overhanging branch nearby that caused the few bigger drop craters in the track.
Early morning photo after a night of rain.
Or, sasquatch.

brenan

8/11/2011 01:13:23 am

I'm not from austrailia so I'm not really familiar with the wombat footprints. I know they are great diggers. this foot print appears to be front right foot and I agree with dave on the reasons. but the track was left after the sand was already wet and also has raindrop marks in it from after it was left. this indicates it was made during the rainfall. but it's also possible the ground was still wet from previous showers. I'm also gonna say it's walking due to the lack of blow back from the claws

Marcos

10/11/2011 04:56:10 am

I might add to the previous posts (right front foot) that it was raining or stop raining not too long ago, but the track is older than 12 hours (because of the white coloration of the sand at the borders of the tracks ridges). Also, it turning aobut 20 degrees towards the center of the line of travel, and finally I'm not so sure but I think there is a second track indirect register of the hind foot, see the grass compression and strange looking palm with crevases in the bigger track!

Lee@Bluegum

10/11/2011 06:52:28 am

Lots of good tracking here.

On the right vs left issue, I'd suggest comparing the track with a field guide image to get a clearer picture on how to tell right vs left foot.

Barbara Triggs' Tracks, Scats and Traces has great images - some of the pics on the web are a bit less than accurate.

Look at the spaces between toes...

Thanks to everyone who has posted - keep your observations/questions coming in.

In order to win the prize, be sure to include how you came to your conclusions.

We'll announce the winner, and post the next tracking challenge in a few days...

blue skies,

Lee

Lee@Bluegum

1/12/2011 01:43:36 pm

Okay! Time to close this tracking challenge and announce the winner.

Thanks to everyone for their comments; there were lots of good insights and guesses.

Well done if you could tell it was a Common Wombat - Vombatus ursinus. Even better if you knew it was a front, right foot.

And, yes, there had been rain before and after the track was left. (Actually, most of the rain fell before the wombat came through - a lot of the droplets in the track itself were drips from an overhanging branch. Major kudos to Charlie for spotting that they were larger than the other drops.)

Kudos to Marcos too, for spotting that the wombat was turning slightly, and to Brenan for seeing that the wombat was in a 'baseline' walking gait ie. relaxed; business as usual.

Overall winner of the prize is Camilla, who gets a 'Mora Clipper' Swedish bushcraft knife. Congratulations Camilla!

(These knives are our favourite all-round bushcraft knives and they're a standard at survival schools around the world. You can buy them through Bluegum Bushcraft for $30.)

Or you can have a go at winning our next Tracking Challenge....

Keep tracking, and a big thanks again for everyone's comments!

Blue skies,

Lee

Planet Folkestone link

8/8/2023 05:41:17 am

Hello mmate great blog post

by the Bluegum Family

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Tracking Challenge - November 2011

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