Jonathan PoppeleAnimal Tracks of the Midwest Field Guide: Easy-to-Use Guide with 55 Track Illustrations

I bought this book for my grandkids ages 5-12. I was surprised when they shared how much love to take it on nature hikes. I also bought one for myself. When I hike, I enjoy being able to identify and discover what animals also travel my trail.

The price point and accuracy of this guide make this a wonderfully accessible and high quality tool for anyone interested in deepening their knowledge of animals, tracks, and gait identification. I don't live in the midwest, but this is still one of my favorite tracking books and the one I most often recommend to new trackers as most of these midwest animals also live in other areas and it is so affordable.Excellent drawings, a photo of the animal, gait information, and so much more packed into quite a small and lightweight (compared to many other guides) copy that can easily be tucked into a backpack for field comparisons. Looking forward to receiving the new Bird Tracks guide that is from the same author.

Jon draws some of the best track illustrations you'll see anywhere. Most importantly though, this book offers descriptions and explanations of track patterns and gaits that both complement and improve upon some of the other main tracking books out there. His visual representations of min/max size are also a great feature. This book will be a mainstay in the library next to Elbroch, Moskowitz and the other leading authors in the field of tracking.

This is a "must own" for any Midwest tracker. Not a re-hash of other tracking guides, but a fresh perspective of field marks and unique characteristics of animal track and sign. I live in California and still read it cover to cover. This would make a great gift for any tracker or naturalist in the Midwest. William Terry Hunefeld, San Diego, California

Easy to use to identify Minnesota wildlife in the snow.

This book is an amazing resource for the novice to the expert. I highly recommend it. Jon’s drawings, descriptions, and the photos are clear, helpful and easy to use.

I'm a professional naturalist and certified wildlife tracker, and I've read (almost) every animal track guide out there. Honestly, most of them aren't very good. But Poppele's guide is excellent! He's a serious tracker and naturalist with a lot of experience, and it shows.His illustrations are some of the best that currently exist for North American species, and his species accounts are excellent, and have just the right amount of information. This book is a perfect to take out in the woods—lightweight and not too big, but with great color photos and tons of detail. It even has rounded page corners, a sign that the publishers really know how to do field guides!Highly, highly recommended, for both beginners and experienced trackers.

Jon's field guide is a fantastic tool for animal tracking in the midwest. He manages to get across the most practical and useful bits of interpreting tracks as well as some information on species and sign. I'll agree with other reviews that other sources may have an overall more comprehensive approach, but this is a field guide, and I need something that will fit in my pack and I can pull out to use in the field. I love that tracks are actual size so I can hold my guide up to tracks to compare and look at the ranges. The intro page for each species has the most salient information for the species which can be a helpful reminder. I also found his systematic approach to analysis of tracks and gait to be very straightforward and to finally help me start to "get" animal gaits. I've gifted this to several folks and will be buying a couple more copies for myself soon!