By Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services
March 06, 1998

NNSL (Mar 04/98) - The ground has many stories to tell.

Part of the outdoor experience is watching for and identifying animal tracks, says Albert Bourque, a wildlife technician with the territorial Department of Resources Wildlife and Economic Development.

Bourque spent Sunday afternoon talking tracks at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. The presentation was part of the Amazing Sundays series. As part of his presentation, Bourque brought along casts of several animals' feet.

Walkers are divided into three groups; plantigrade, digitigrade and ungulates. People and bears step into the first category because they use heels while members of the second group, such as wolves, walk with their fingers.

Caribou, because they use their toes for walking, fall into the ungulate group.

"All kinds of stories are written on the ground," Bourque says. "You just need to know how to read them."

"From the tracks, you can get an idea of what the animal was doing."

Tracks also hint at the size of the animal, as well as its condition. Not to mention the direction of travel, sometimes even pointing to the animal's location.

Bourque says you can pass just a few metres from a lynx, a master of camouflage, without knowing. But if you're aware of its tracks, you may be able to spot the animal.

Lynx paws are well-equipped for chasing their prey, the snowshoe hare. Because of the size of their paws, lynx are able to move easily on top of snow. Lynx paws are about 14 centimetres long. Average wolf paws are about 10 centimetres long.

Around here, you don't have to go too far to find some tracks. Bourque says he spotted wolverine tracks along Tibbitt Lake last week.

After his Sunday display, Bourque took those who had attended the presentation outside to identify some tracks around the museum.

The next instalment of Amazing Sunday's features a celebration of Northern women in the arts. The program includes poetry, drama, storytelling and visual arts.

March 6, 1998:
Tracking Tracks

May 21, 1997:
Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow