Animal tracks

Grass deterioration, also known as animal tracks or desire lines, is one of the new features implemented in, which continued in , although it is toned down. The game is able to keep track of players' movements throughout town and will wear down the grass in certain areas. This feature is originally intended to create paths in frequently-traversed areas, which adds to the town’s own unique character. In some instances, the feature has nearly obliterated all the grass in the entire town. This process has been dubbed "desertification" by some in the Animal Crossing community. Many players seek to prevent desertification in their towns, not only for aesthetic reasons, but because the lack of grass can become a game-breaking issue, causing some insects, such as the Dung Beetle, or furniture, such as the Snowman Series, to be nearly impossible to collect.

Prevention
While there is no way to play the game without wearing down any grass, players who wish to prevent grass deterioration in their towns can take certain steps to stem desertification. Since the game calculates grass wear at each game load, players can reduce the number of times each day they reload the game. Players can also walk along designated paths to limit wear to only these areas. Placing designs on the ground as paths is one way to accomplish this. Patterns will not protect the ground, but will establish a path that can be consistently followed. Walking along a path with flowers on the sides also negates the deterioration, as a plot of land with a flower will not lose its grass if it is stepped on only once daily. However, even stepping on the flowers while walking will still cause grass deterioration underneath the flowers.

'' *NOTE: Running wears grass more quickly than walking. ''

Repair
Grass regrowth in the game can take up to six months. There are a few ways in which a player can aid this process. Planting trees and flowers all over the trampled area will speed up regrowth. Flowers cause grass to regrow at about five times the normal rate. A flower takes about 30 days to convert dirt to grass on the plot of land on which it is planted, providing the ground there is not walked on more than once a day. Trees cause grass to regrow at three times the normal rate, as well as providing a physical barrier to prevent that particular plot from being trampled. Once these trees and flowers are planted, the player must avoid walking in the affected area other than to keep the flowers watered. Since running is slightly more devastating to grass than walking, a player should be sure to walk through an area if travel there cannot be avoided altogether. For players who are willing to time-travel within the game, the regrowth process can be further accelerated by advancing the game clock forward one day at a time, being certain that all flowers are kept watered each day. Setting the game clock backward in time or moving forward more than one day does not result in additional grass regrowth. The time of the year also affects grass regrowth, with spring and summer months being the best time for recovery. The regrowth rate is at its maximum in June. In December, the opposite is true: grass wears the fastest and regrows the slowest.

Petition
There has an online petition requesting that Nintendo release a patch over the Wi-Fi connection that will fix the grass growth issue. It should be noted that due to the software and hardware designs of the Wii, it may be impossible for Nintendo to fix the issue through a patch alone.

The Differences between Running, Walking, and Jogging
Running wears grass faster than walking; in fact, jogging, as it is called, wears more grass than walking. Jogging is the fastest way of moving without having to press the run button. The difference between jogging and walking is that the player's arms move back and forth when the player is walking.

Visible Wear and Slow Wear
There are two types of wear. One is a sudden, visible wear that occurs when passing over a spot of grass. The other type is a much slower wear which accumulates over time.

Public Works Projects and Villager's Houses
In, whenever a new Public works project is built and completed in a certain spot then demolished later, or a villager has moved out of town, the grass will be deteriorated in that particular spot, leaving behind a dirt mark in the size and shape of where the public works project or the villager's home used to be. Grass can regrow in those spots, as long as it is left alone.

Saving and Quitting Effects
Saving and quitting affects grass deterioration. If a player walks over an area, saves, quits, and then returns and walks over it again, the player will see that area wears once. The player can repeat this until the grass eventually becomes dirt.

Grass Regrowth
Grass, when left alone, takes approximately 6 months to grow back. Trees and Flowers affect grass regrowth immensely. A flower will take approximately 30 days for the grass to regrow without being stepped on or dying. Trees take some more time than flowers to help grass regrow; for example, if a flower took 5 days, a tree takes 7 to regrow the same amount of grass. Time traveling works as well, but it is effective only if the player is active at least once every day for the 6 months; otherwise, villagers may move away and flowers may die during this process.

Pathways/Roads
Pathways/Roads are can be used to help maintain grass deterioration. The player can lay out patterns as a guideline for the path and then run on the path until it is complete dirt, and then remove the patterns. The path should be complete dirt because the path may spread to about 5 spaces wide in severe cases. Many people line their path with flowers to stop this from happening. If you line your path with flowers and stay inside the road it will not spread. Gold roses are recommended for this purpose because normal flowers wilt and die. Another option is to water flowers every day if gold roses are not desirable. Although they help create paths, patterns and flowers do not stop the spread of grass deterioration.