Rocky Mountain Mammal Finder: Identifying Mammals by Their Tracks, Skulls, and Other Signs

Identify mammals of the Rocky Mountain region with this pocket-size guide.

Whether you're hiking with your family, on a camping trip, or visiting your favorite park, you're bound to come across wildlife--or signs that animals have left behind. If you're curious about which critters have been there and which you're likely to see, then Rocky Mountain Mammal Finder by Ron Russo is just what you need. With the handy, easy-to-use book, you can identify mammals by sight, as well as by their animal tracks, burrows, nests, scat, scratch or chew marks, and skulls/jaws.

The booklet begins with introductions of the various signs, followed by two dichotomous keys: one for identifying animal homes and another for scratch and chew marks. Simply answer a series of simple questions based on appearance to identify what type of mammal was there. A field guide section presents more than 60 mammals, complete with professional illustrations by Barbara Downs, range maps, and detailed descriptions to help you identify each species.

Book Features:

• Beginner's guide to mammal identification


• More than 60 species of common and important mammals


• Guides to their signs: chew marks, nests, scat, skulls, tracks, and more


• Professional illustrations with key markings for identification


• Small format that fits into a pocket or pack

This guide is applicable to the US states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

Ron Russo is well-known for his broad knowledge and enthusiastic teaching. He has written more than 40 articles for various magazines and journals--including a feature article in Natural History magazine--as well as five technical papers on leopard shark biology. Ron is the author of such books as Pacific Coast Fish Finder, Pacific Coast Mammal Finder, and Plant Galls of the Western United States.

Ron served as a naturalist of the East Bay Regional Park District for 37 years, including 17 years as Chief Naturalist, before retiring in 2003 to focus full-time on his passions of plant galls and shark biology. He is the recipient of the distinguished Fellow Award from the National Association for Interpretation (1989) and served as an instructor of California state park rangers for 25 years at the William Penn Mott Training Center at Asilomar, California. Ron was also a wilderness guide for 18 years, leading trips to observe and study Alaska's rich array of plants and animals, including humpback whales and grizzly bears.

Barbara Downs is a freelance illustrator. She lives in Hawaii, where she enjoys all the beauty that nature has to offer.