Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking by Tom Brown

Author:Tom Brown
Language: eng
Format: azw3, pdf
Published: 1983-08-31T22:00:00+00:00

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Gallopers include all rabbits, hares, and rodents with tin- ex cep tion of the wide-bodied beaver, muskrat, marmot and porcupine all pacers). As these animals move, they push off with their back feet sometimes flying through the air), hit with their front feet, and bring their back feet all the way through. On your hands and knees, this would be the same as reaching forward with both hands, then sliding your knees all the way past your hands on the outside of your forearms. Tr\ it

An interesting sidelight on the gallopers is that if the front feet hit side by side, it indicates a tree-dwelling animal, whereas if they hit on a diagonal, it indicates a ground dweller. For example, the red scjuirrel is a galloper that spends most of its time in trees, so its front feet hit side b\ side. But the ground dwelling rabbit hits with its feet on a diagonal. Tin-same is generally true of birds. Tree dwellers such as woodpeckers and sparrows hop on both feet at the same time, while ground dwellers such as quail and pheasant alternate footsteps. Other birds such as robins and crows (equally at home on the ground and in trees) do a little of l>oth

Gait Variations. Now that you have a clear picture of tin* four primary gaits and what animals use them at their normal slow rate of speed here is what happens when these animals pick up speed: As the diagonal walkers pick up speed, they become bounders, then gallopers For exam pie, if a fox is startled, it will probably move from a diagonal walk into a bound; but if it is truly frightened, it will run away at a gallop The same* is true for members of the cat and deer families, one notable exception being the mule deer, which bounds at high speeds.

To complicate matters a bit, the diagonal walkers have main other gaits. For example, between the diagonal walk and the bound comes tin trot, and between the bound and the gallop comes the lope In fact there are about thirty-two different recognizable gaits, each indicating a particu lar speed and state of mind. However, it is not necessary to memorize ill these variations. If you find a gait you can t identify don t be discouraged just learn the primary ones and you 11 soon be able to read the ones in between. More important, watch animals walking trotting, bounding loping, and galloping—then go examine the tracks

Most pacers, as they pick up speed, move from a pace into a diagonal walk, then to a bound, and finally to a gallop In other woi > dies follow the same sequence as the cats, clogs, and hoofed animals once they get going. This information can he extremely useful, not only for species identification, but for reading an animal’s actions. For example, the diagonal walking pattern of a mountain lion would indicate a normal walk, whereas the diagonal walking pattern of a badger would indicate that the animal was in a hurry.

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