| Ann has invited Eri, a new exchange student,
to go hiking in the woods with her. |
| Ann : |
Eri, look at these ! |
| Eri : |
Wow. what are they ? |
| Ann : |
They're animal tracks. |
| Eri : |
Yeah, I can see that, but what kind of animal
? |
| Ann : |
A wolf, probabiy. |
| Eri : |
( 1 ) |
| Ann : |
Well, look at the top half. Can you eee the
four claws ? |
|
Also, the main part of the foot makes a triangl-shape. |
|
This is typical of wolves. |
| Eri : |
Amazing! Wait, Ann, look at (1)these ! What are they ? |
| Ann : |
Hmm . . . I think they're from a type of
rabbit. |
| Eri : |
Really ? They look like a duck's footprints
to me. |
| Ann : |
Yeah, they do. But ducks' feet don't have
rounded toes. |
|
They're webbed. |
| Eri : |
Webbed ? |
| Ann : |
Oh, that means the toes are connected by
skin -- like a |
|
frog, for example. |
| Eri : |
I see . . . but the entire shape is like
a duck's print. |
| Ann : |
Actually, it's shaped like a snowshoe. These
prints are from |
|
a snowshoe hare. |
| Eri : |
( 2 ) Is it a "hairy"
animal ? |
| Ann : |
No. not that kind of hair! A hare looks like
a rabbit. |
|
And a snowshoe is a large, flat thing we
wear for walking on snow. This type of hare's
foot has the same shape, so it's called a
snowshoe hare. |
| Eri : |
I see. |
| Ann : |
Now look at these over here. Can you
see any differences |
|
between (2) these and the first ones we saw ? |
| Eri : |
Umm . . . they look like a wolf's, but they
have five claws, not four. |
| Ann : |
( 3 ) These belong to a wolverine,
a differerent animal. |
|
The other difference between the footprints
is the shape of the main part. |
| Eri : |
I see, instead of one big triangle-shape,
this one has two |
|
separate shapes. |
| Ann : |
Also, it's much more rounded at the top,
just under the |
|
claws. The other ones were more pointed. |
| Eri : |
Gosh. you know so much about this stuff. |
| Ann: |
I just picked it up from my uncle. He likes
to look for |
|
mushrooms in the woods and needs to know
what animals are around -- just to be on
the safe side. |
| Eri : |
Wow, I'd like to meet him one day. |