Tracking (hunting)

Tracking in hunting and ecology is the science and art of observing animal tracks and other signs, with the goal of gaining understanding of the landscape and the animal being tracked (quarry). A further goal of tracking is the deeper understanding of the systems and patterns that make up the environment surrounding and incorporating the tracker.

The practice of tracking may focus on, but is not limited to, the patterns and systems of the local animal life and ecology. Trackers must be able to recognize and follow animals through their tracks, signs, and trails, also known as spoor. Spoor may include tracks, scat, feathers, kills, scratching posts, trails, drag marks, sounds, scents, marking posts, the behavior of other animals, habitat cues, and any other clues about the identity and whereabouts of the quarry.

The skilled tracker is able to discern these clues, recreate what transpired on the landscape, and make predictions about the quarry. The tracker may attempt to predict the current location of the quarry and follow the quarry's spoor to that location, in an activity known as trailing.

Hunting

Hunting is the practice of killing or trapping any animal, or pursuing it with the intent of doing so. Hunting wildlife or feral animals is most commonly done by humans for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, lawful hunting is distinguished from poaching, which is the illegal killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species. The species that are hunted are referred to as game and are usually mammals and birds.

Hunting can also be a means of pest control. Hunting advocates state that hunting can be a necessary component of modern wildlife management, for example, to help maintain a population of healthy animals within an environment's ecological carrying capacity when natural checks such as predators are absent. However, hunting has also heavily contributed to the endangerment, extirpation and extinction of many animals.

The pursuit, capture and release, or capture for food of fish is called fishing, which is not commonly categorised as a form of hunting. It is also not considered hunting to pursue animals without intent to kill them, as in wildlife photography or birdwatching. The practice of foraging or gathering materials from plants and mushrooms is also considered separate.

Hunting (surname)

Hunting is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

List of That '70s Show episodes

That '70s Show is an American comedy television series that originally aired on Fox for 200 episodes and four specials across eight seasons, from August 23, 1998, to May 18, 2006. The series spans the years 1976 through the end of 1979.

Series screenwriters included Philip Stark, Mark Hudis, Jeff and Jackie Filgo, Will Forte, Gregg Mettler, Dean Batali, and series creators Bonnie and Terry Turner. All episodes following the pilot were directed by David Trainer. For Seasons 5–8, episodes were titled after song names from various 1970s rock bands: fifth season episodes are named after songs by Led Zeppelin, sixth season titles are The Who songs, all seventh season titles are from The Rolling Stones and, except for the finale, eighth season titles are Queen songs.

The entire series of 200 episodes has been released on Regions 1, 2 and 4 DVD, and in 2015, the series was released on Blu-ray.

Series overview

Episodes

Season 1 (1998–99)

Season 2 (1999–2000)

Season 3 (2000–01)

Tracking

Tracking may refer to:

Tracking (particle physics)

In particle physics, the tracking is the act of measuring the direction and magnitude of charged particles momenta. The particles entering a tracker (the device used for tracking), release part of their energy in the device: the tracker has to be finely segmented in order to be able to reconstruct with good precision where the particle passed. Since the tracking is usually made in a region where a magnetic field is present, it is possible to reconstruct part of the helix made by the particle inside the tracker (that is called track), and from the track parameters, and by knowing the mass of the particle under study (which is known by the use of particle identification), it is possible to reconstruct the actual direction and magnitude of the particle momenta. From these information the tracking of charged particles can be used to reconstruct secondary decays, this can be done for B-tagging (in experiments like CDF or at LHC) or to fully reconstruct events (like in BaBar and Belle).

Tracking (dog)

Tracking is a technique in which dogs are trained to locate certain objects by using the object's scent, for a variety of purposes. Tracking has always been an essential skill for dogs to survive in the wild, through hunting and tracking down potential prey.

Physiological Mechanisms of Tracking

Primarily, dogs use their sense of smell, to find and follow a track. Dogs have a highly sensitive olfactory system superior to humans, and are able to discriminate between different human’s scents. Moreover, dogs are also able to use visual cues to follow a track.

Phases of tracking

There are three phases, which complete the process of tracking:

1. Searching Phase

2. Deciding Phase

3. Tracking phase

Factors influencing a dog’s tracking ability

There are several factors which influences a dog’s ability to track: Physiological features of the dog are a factor. Some instances include with age, sex are influences. As a dog ages, their olfactory acuity decreases and decreases their ability to track. Furthermore, male dogs have found to be better at tracking than females, possibly due to sex differences in olfaction. Sniffing behaviour also influences olfaction, and therefore a dog’s ability to track. For example, a dog’s ability to sniff is higher when it is not panting due to fatigue – it is physically impossible for a dog to both pant and sniff at the same time and the mouth must be open or closed respectively . However, dogs trained to track during physically demanding activities may have adapted their behaviour by increasing sniffing frequency to maximize olfaction, and tracking. Also, different dog breeds have varying suitability to different tasks of tracking. For example, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives use Labrador Retrievers for their tracking purposes.