"There is no branch of detective science which is so important and so much neglected as the art of tracing footsteps. Happily, I have always laid great stress upon it, and much practice has made it second nature to me. " -- Holmes (STUD).

Tracking is an ancient art used by hunters everywhere. As life has progressed, though, it has been neglected and, in many cases, forgotten. It is a highly skilled art requiring time and practice to perfect it. The fact that Mr. Holmes was such an accomplished tracker points to a serious amount of field study. To become such a skilled tracker would have required hundreds of hours of field observation. His efforts came to fruition during such cases as BERY, SILV, and CROO.

Of utmost importance is a tracker's faculty of observation and his attention to detail - both of which Mr. Holmes had to an extraordinary degree. Carelessness in these areas can cause a tracker to overlook a sign or, worse yet, destroy it altogether. Novices think of trackers with their nose to the ground following footprints; and while this may be true, the art of tracking incorporates sign left on the ground as well as in the vertical space above and around the track. Therefore, the effective tracker is always in tune with the entire environment, not just that of the ground. Twigs broken from trees or bits of animal hair left in shrubs can point a tracker in the right direction when there are no clues on the ground. Newly fallen leaves or scuffed vegetation or surfaces can also leave evidence of something's passing. As pressure is exerted on vegetation, it breaks, scars, or tears; and only careful observation will reveal a bent stalk of grass repairing itself from being passed over hours before. Signs of an individual's passing may be found in the splatter pattern of dew, the shine on dry vegetation, compressions in the soil, or vegetation and stone disturbances.

Footprints are hardly ever quite as easy to follow as one initially imagines. Only soft ground can usually record a good footprint which will reveal heel and toe size and type, weight of the impression, and so on. But even on soft ground, an excellent impression is hard to find. Far more often, a partial impression or simple signs of passing may be present such as flattened areas, irregular geometric shapes that would not naturally occur in nature, or evidence of recent rearrangement. Actual placement of the foot depends on the stride length of the individual, the terrain type, and the terrain slope.
Trackers often find too much evidence of passing - i.e. the footsteps of others interfering in their ability to see the original trail - hence Mr. Holmes' anguished state when the Police would tromp through a crime scene that very well might have yielded much clearer evidence before they came. Today, search parties often have the same difficulty when encountering track obscured by others after-the-fact.

The art of tracking requires diligence, concentration, and most of all, clear observation. To this end, the use of sunlight is one of the tracker's most important aids. Shadows thrown by the sun can make tracks leap out of the ground whereas the absence of shadow (when the sun is at its zenith) will obscure and hide even the best print. Therefore, Mr. Holmes, as an experienced tracker, would have always kept the sun between him and the track, to give him better lighting. He would have known that tracking near sunrise and sunset is infinitely easier than tracking at midday. Nothing can assist a tracker more than clearly seeing the track; for as he follows his quarry and from the faintest of evidence, he must be able to clearly identify that track as it is recast again and again in infinite variety. The proper placement of the sun can help, but nothing can replace physically getting down close to the track, using a magnifying glass, and observing details that are not visible at a standing height. To the onlooker, this may seem strange - and certainly taken with Mr. Holmes other eccentric traits, anyone seeing him perform this ritual must have been somewhat chagrined - but for the trained tracker, it is a natural method of discovering the faintest clues.

The tracker often measures the quarry's stride length and shoe length as he begins his hunt. This is done so that the tracker can proceed from each sign to the next plausible point where the foot hit the ground.

If much time has passed between when the quarry left the sign, wind and weather can also effect the track. A tracker may "age" the track to tell how long ago it was left. Knowing the time particular vegetation takes to heal from breaks is important in tracking and can help age the sign and thereby identify when the individual passed through the area. Thus, to properly evaluate and cultivate his craft, Mr. Holmes would have inevitably made some small study of the healing process of common plants and trees in and around London and the surrounding countryside. He would have also had to have a keen awareness of recent area weather, soil firmness and sign/track placement (if it was in a protected place or exposed to the weather) when studying tracks to effectively date the tracks.

Besides sight, smell, touch and sound can assist the tracker. Newly broken vegetation can give off a stronger scent because of the break. Touch can help determine soil density and particulars about the track that they eyes may not see. A dog that barks when the tracker passes probably barked when the quarry passed as well - and thus may help determine the time at which the quarry passed.

Tracks can reveal information about the quarry's weight (the amount of indentation of a track), height (from the size of the shoe), physical condition (if there is a limp), if he paused or had a sudden reaction, how fast he was going, and even economic status (if a shoe is patched or heavily worn). This all depends, of course, on the training of the tracker and the condition of the track. Mr. Holmes demonstrates the ability to glean information about the speed of the quarry in CROO when he says "I was able to obtain five very clear impressions of his footmarks: one in the roadway itself, at the point where he had climbed the low wall, two on the lawn, and two very faint ones upon the stained boards near the window where he had entered. He had apparently rushed across the lawn, for his toe marks were much deeper than his heels."

Now we turn to an anomaly regarding tracking in SILV. Holmes tracks Silverblaze to the Capleton Stables; yet, the night SILV was abducted, there was a "very heavy rain."
"Rain obliterates tracks in dirt and sand completely unless it is only a list mist . . . Light rains also encourage grass and weeds to stand back up more swiftly, thereby giving you less time to find grass trails." (Kearney, 104). Kearney goes on to state that the "shine" left on brown grass from the freshly flattened surface also disappears. Tracking after rain becomes very nearly impossible (as our two heroes found out in MUSG when Watson notes, "Rain had fallen on the night before, and we examined the lawn and the paths all round the house, but in vain)."

In SILV, the hollow where Straker was found was filled with mud, and therefore had a dirt surface, probably covered with light vegetation. A hollow might obscure a small light through the thickness of trees and brush, but it is unlikely to completely obscure the sky -- and therefore it might afford some little protection against the rain, but not much. Even if it were a hollow made of thick brush on all sides, it is very doubtful a high-strung racing thoroughbred stallion would have allowed himself to be led into such an enclosure. And certainly, if the hollow were this full of brush, Watson would have made note of it. Because a hollow is a sunken place, it attracts water, especially if runoff had no place to go on the surrounding "hard" moor. Therefore, further rain would have run into the hollow and decimated tracks left there.

At the time when Straker left the house, his wife "begged him to remain at home, as she could hear the rain pattering against the window." Later, Holmes surmises that Straker "had already in spite of the rain, taken off his overcoat in order to do his delicate task." But there, Holmes is clearly wrong (or misquoted by Watson). The rain must have stopped or severely lessened between the time that Straker left the house and when he intended to do surgery on the horse. That is why he removed his coat and that is why the tracks were visible enough for Holmes to find two days later.

The fact that heavy rain would have decimated the tracks in the hollow, in combination with the evidence that Straker lit a match - which surely would have been quite difficult in a heavy rain, is conclusive. The rain had lessened and even stopped by the time Straker brought the horse to the hollow. Such an experienced tracker as Holmes would have realized that the rain had already stopped given that that both man and horse tracks were still evident upon in the soft mud of the moor almost immediately; and it is more likely that, in transcribing his notes, the long-suffering Doctor took liberty with the trifling detail of the rain or did not comprehend its importance.

That Holmes did not examine the part of the moor close to the hollow for the direction which Silver Blaze started upon is somewhat inexcusable but understandable if time was essential (which, given the tracks were already two days old and rapidly deteriorating is plausible). A horse's hoof, like a person's shoe, would have accumulated mud from the hollow upon it, leaving small clumps of mud behind as he started off given an initial direction of the beast. But, since Holmes clearly had an idea of where the horse went beforehand, he skipped much tracking time by finding a plausible soft spot in another hollow -- where he did, indeed, find the trail of Silver Blaze. Undoubtedly, tracking made this and countless other cases come to fruition where many other tactics would not have worked.

Information for this article was culled mainly from the following sources:

Tracking, A Blueprint for Learning How by Jack Kearney
Nature Observation and Tracking by Tom Brown, Jr.