Track Making by Man and Domestic Animals

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Abstract
Permanent footpaths are made by man when a guiding line is provided by the marks of a previous passage. Footprints in snow, mud on the grass or bruising of the herbage provides a trail. Meandering of the path may be due to changes from hard to soft ground or to variations in the composition of the herbage. It is also due to changes in the level of the ground. Man automatically adjusts his body to the vertical position and takes the direction up or downhill which will cause the least strain on the ankle joints. Cattle and sheep use a track only to reach some definite objective. Generally the return journey is not made along a track. The so-called sheep terraces are caused by the earth slipping and cracking in horizontal lines transversely to the slope. A case is descr. where sheep made tracks along ridges formed by plowing, although these tracks were quite unnecessary as guides. The ridges made by cows near gateways result from the formation of waves in the mud as it is pushed down the slope. The waves are subsequently rounded off by the grinding action of the cow''s hooves when the mud dries. Rabbit tracks are continuous when the turf is short but slight obstructions cause the rabbits to hop and the track then becomes a chain of depressions. The latter vary in size.

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