Animal Tracks and Signs (Natural History

by Preben Bang, Preben Dahlstrom (Illustrator)

First published in English by Collins in 1974, this substantially revised and extended edition is one of the first three volumes of Oxford University Press's new Pocket Guide natural history series. The series fills the need for field guides for those who want to find out about the common organisms they come across during countryside excursions without having the specialist knowledge required to make detailed species identifications. All the books in the series are attractively designed and lavishly illustrated with high quality colour photographs and line drawings throughout. Animal Tracks and Signs is the only book in print that allows the reader to identify over 200 North-west European mammals and birds that have passed by from the evidence they have left behind. Whether one finds footprints, feeding damage, a skull or a hole in the ground, this book will describe how it was made and who by. A pleasure to dip into, it is also an essential tool for anyone who needs to identify remains, whether they are professional ecologists or schoolchildren collecting items for a nature table.

Genres: Nature, Reference, Animals, Nonfiction, Natural History

264 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would be suprised if someone were to show me a more detailed book on tracking animals by what they leave behind. Beautiful watercolours show you every pellet, stool, dropping, gnawed nut, pine cone and hoof print you could imagine. Some of the paintings of gulls pellets are exquisite. Details of hoof prints, gaits, how often the animal urinates and how to identify stools by smell. I can't wait for that pine martin to poo in our woodshed again, this time I feel confident to identify by it's perfumed musty aroma.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant. Diagrams of animal tracks and if you want to track wildlife which is a must for everyone.

[Harry Rutherford · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers the whole range of signs of animal presence: tracks, droppings, gnawed seeds and cones, burrows and so on. It's translated from Danish, I think — something Scandinavian, anyway — so it covers all the British species plus a few like wolf and beaver that we haven't had here for a few centuries.

It's interesting to read and seems very good; I will probably never use it much as a field guide, which is what you would need to do to really get a handle on this stuff, because it's just an extra book to carry. The sooner all these guides are available as apps and ebooks the better.

But it's nice to have as a reference, and I've already learned at least one thing from it: I realised that a hole I found last year with the remains of a wasp nest at the bottom was probably dug up by a badger. So that's cool.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good range of wildlife signs primarily covering birds and mammals. Quite a wide area covered, so if you don't have some of the bigger animals in your area - for example, Britain doesn't have bears or wolves - a fair amount of the information will not be relevant, however it's still an interesting read.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very useful identification guide, the desciptions and images ensure that the book can be used by both amateurs and professionals, although it doesn't descibe/illustrate all of the possible tracks and signs for UK mammals but it does provide a good starting point