Tracks and signs images needed.

[JAJ]

More images of the track and sign of Muntjac / Muntiacus reevesi , February to March 2011

A slot / imprint. The basics , no larger than an old 50 pence piece. The more you start looking at the ground the more you start to find , and then realise. They are everywhere!



Muntjac scat (often found in latrine areas)



Muntjac stream crossing. Such areas allow the tracker to build up a much clearer image (see photo comments)



Taking casts from these 'steam bank tracks' involved a degree ingenuity, some plaster of paris, a bottle of water, an empty toilet roll, and a few sticks to hold everything up. Since then I now use short sections of plastic pipe instead of the toilet roll for casting tracks. These can be easily twisted into soft ground without disturbing the slot.

Hope this helps

[The Woodman]

Good images there, JAJ.

I've used sections of plastic water bottles for casting rings. Cut the top and bottom off a 1.5 or 2ltr bottle leaving a cylinder. One cut lengthwise and then 2 or 3" wide strips round the circumference. Diameter can be reduced and the overlap held with two paper clips or two joined together and held with 4 paper clips, two each on the two overlapping joins. They all stack together nicely.

[JAJ]

Thanks Woodman Nice tips on making casts on deer slots / any prints.

Here's a few more images from our local country park , again February to March; an ideal time to track deer when the vegetation is low and the ground is nice and soft. Funnily enough one of the best place to find Muntjac activity is along well used human / dog-walking paths. You just need to arrive before the dog-walkers.

Fresh sign. (adult) slots a few hours old.



Older sign. (adult) slots 12 to 24 hours old.



While tracking I've learnt that every fallen leaf, blade of grass, even the texture of the soil surrounding each print or impression, provides a detailed chronology of information.

Peace J

[Burko]

Originally Posted by JAJ

Funnily enough one of the best place to find Muntjac activity is along well used human / dog-walking paths. You just need to arrive before the dog-walkers.

I'd say in a lot of cases it's the other way around and it's animal trails that get used by humans.
They will take the path of least resistance just like we would. There's lots and lots of footpaths/highways that are made by animals.

[JAJ]

Originally Posted by Burko

the path of least resistance

This is very true . ^ ^ ^

I can spend an hour crawling though brambles, thickets, into marsh land, soon tangled up on barbedwire fences looking for sign. Only to find fresh sign flanking open ground on open headland, then leading onto perfect tracks, along well managed woodland paths. With the weakest path of resistance being the most used track.

All indications do however suggest that Muntjac like to relax in the thickest bramble briar areas during the day, where they can contently chew on their cud.

Deposits of scat amassed (such as these below) are frequent in such areas.



Peace J

[JAJ]

The 'sign' of Muntjac often includes the odd snapped branch.



As subjective as such images may appear, after a while, they become a recurrent feature on the track. Indicating large adults, and most probably male path-finders.

The more we understand about the communal activities of Muntiacus reevesi in Britain the sooner we come to realise that each population maintains its own social network.That which often extends well beyond the presumed / accepted / fabled local satellite.

Hope this helps

[JAJ]

Muntjac scat , woodland , south-west Leicestershire 5/ 9/ 2011

[waxcap]

Hi

could anyone tell me which animal this scat is from. I was thinking it may be a Fox. There are a lot of beetle wing cases in there. It was about 2cm diameter.

Dave

[fairplay]

More likely to be an owl pellet methinks. Was there a possible roosting point above it ?

Neil.

[waxcap]

Hi Neil,

I did think that when I first saw it but expected to see bones and fur. There were some older ones underneath in a small "trough" in the ground (I moved these a few inches for the photo). I looked up and there was nothing directly above but there was a nice big tree close by. Whatever left it there seems to prefer to use the same place every time.

Dave