A Field Guide To Animal Tracks (1974)

At a glance..

This volume fits well into the Field Guide series, for it supplements the volume on mammals and to a certain extent the ones on birds, providing the amateur naturalist (and also the professional wildlife technician and biologist) with a means of identifying the wildlife around him even when he cannot see it.

The details..

"Tracking" is an essential skill for any soldier, as it can alert them to the presence of enemies and help regain contact with them. FM 21-75 provides detailed guidance on how to track men or animals by their footprints, scent, and other signs they leave behind. The book emphasizes the importance of patience, persistence, observation skills, and knowledge about the enemy's habits in mastering this precise art.

The six fundamentals of tracking are displacement (detecting when something has been moved from its original position), staining (identifying marks left by blood or other fluids), weathering (noticing changes caused by exposure to natural elements), littering (finding discarded items such as food wrappers or cigarette butts), camouflaging (spotting attempts made by the enemy to hide tracks),and interpretation/immediate use intelligence(combining all five fundamentals). By analyzing these signs carefully using various techniques described in detail throughout this guide soldiers will be able build a picture of their target in mind.

The book also covers specific topics like countertracking which involves detecting if one is being followed; analyzing footprints based on direction/rate/number/heavy loads carried/sex/knowledge etc.; identifying key prints; counting number persons using stride method; recognizing different types of footprints like running/carrying load/walking backwards etc., among others.

Overall,FM 21-75 serves as an excellent reference material for anyone interested in learning more about tracking techniques used within military operations.