The Topic:  Animal Tracks Easier - An animal track is a mark left by a moving animal. You can find the path, route, or course of the animal by examining its track.   Harder - Tracking is a technique that scientists and hunters use to find and follow animals. Most people think of following the footprints of an animal, but there are other ways to track animals. For example, you can examine their "scat" or "droppings," look for scratches in the bark of trees or ground, or look for their dens.     Beartrackers' Den  http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Rapids/7076/ Here you find information on animals and their tracks and links to other tracking sites. Sections Within Beartrackers' Den: 2) Tracking and Trailing Tips http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Rapids/7076/tips.html 3) Beartracker's Animal Tracks Guide http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Rapids/7076/guide.html 4) Animal Tracks-Mammals http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Rapids/7076/mammals.html 5) Animal Scat http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Rapids/7076/animalscat.html   Identifying and Preserving Wildlife Tracks by J. C. Boren & B. D. Wright (New Mexico State University)  http://cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_circulars/circ561.html Wild animals can be difficult to detect because of their instinctive behavior to avoid humans. However, the presence of wild animals often can be determined by their tracks in snow, sand, or soft mud.   Tracking and Stalking North American Wildlife (The Virtual Cub Scout Leader's Handbook)  http://www.geocities.com./Yosemite/9152/wildlife.html This website provides tips on tracking, identifying the "quarry", and stalking it. Also included are tips on safety around wildlife, animal track images, wildlife data, and when possible, sound files.   Whose Track Is That? (Ranger Rick® Activity Page, National Wildlife Federation)  http://www.nwf.org/kids/trackMatch.cfm Want to become a nature detective? Learn to read animal tracks to figure out what kind of animals passed by-and maybe even what they were up to! Here are some clues to help you. Related Websites: 2) Animal Tracking http://expage.com/gotracking   Choose a project and use the links below to solve the problem or create a project.   Track Quiz. Try the Mammal Tracks Quiz, and the Animal Tracks Quiz. Try making your own track game using animals that could be found in your area.   Animal Track Board. Create a bulletin board showing animals and their tracks. Print out animal tracks from the Beartrackers' Den.   Invent An Animal. Invent an animal and create the footprint. Can classmates identify the characteristics of the animal from the footprint?   Collect Tracks. Take a hike along a neighborhood stream or lake. Search along the water's edge for animal tracks. Take measurements and sketch your own drawings of the tracks that you find. See if you can identify the animals that made each track. You may even want to make a plaster cast track collection; procedures can be found at Animal Tracks, Animal Tracks, Casting Animal Tracks, and Collecting Animal Tracks from the Nova Scotia Museum. Another excellent way to collect animal tracks is with a digital camera. Get out there, find some animal tracks!   Keep An Animal Tracks Journal. Start you own journal of animal tracking information. Include drawings or photographs of each set of tracks that you find and identify. Include track measurements and describe the location, features, and clues related to each track.   Complete An Animal Tracking WebQuest. Follow or adapt the procedures found at the following webQuest site: WebQuest for J. Arnosky's story 'Crinkleroot's Animal Tracking' by J. York (Grade 3) http://www.scs.k12.tn.us/STT2000_wq/2-5/yorkl/default.htm   A Few More Animal Tracking & Cryptid Track Identification http://www.cryptozoology.com/tracks/trackshome.asp Here you can learn about the basic and advanced techniques in animal tracking and track identification.   Animal Tracks (Nature's Corner at Hopkins School District 270)  http://www.hopkins.k12.mn.us/Pages/District/NatCor/Collections/AnimalTracks/index.htm Here are a few photographs of wildlife tracks in the snow. Click on each for a closer view.   Animal Tracks http://www.eosc.osshe.edu/~twelch/lessons/collecting/animaltracks.html This brief website gives clear, concise directions for making plaster casts of animal tracks.   Animal Tracks of Humboldt County http://www.humboldt.net/~tracker/index.html This is a guide to the common animal tracks found on California's North coast (and elsewhere). Similar Websites: 2) Learn about Tracking Animals (Kid's Corner at Torey Pines State Reserve) http://www.torreypine.org/tpkids.htm 3) Whose tracks? Animal Tracks Quiz http://www.parkhere.org/kidstrk3.htm   Automated Animal Tracking System http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/starkey/tracking.html Learn how automated radio telemetry systems are use in long-term studies of elk, deer, and cattle in managed forests. Related Article: 2) High Tech Animal Tracking by M. Dunbar http://www.arabianwildlife.com/archive/vol2.1/track.htm   Casting Tracks http://www.parkhere.org/kidstrk2.htm Scientists who observe animals in the wild study tracks all the time. These biologists often make plaster casts of tracks they find in the wild. Learn how to cast your own animal tracks.    Follow that Footprint, Paw Print, Hoof print ...  http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/nature/track.htm By looking carefully at animal tracks you can learn more about their comings and their goings too. Related Website: 2) Animal Tracking Adventures http://www.ducks.ca/ohmic/english/Feature/atrack.html   National Wildlife Federation Animal Tracks http://www.nwf.org/kids/trackMatch.cfm Try the track matching game. More Tracking information: 1) Cure for Cabin Fever- Animal Tracking http://www.gorp.com/gorp/publishers/fulcrum/winter_cure7.htm 2) Animal Insight Starts with the Pawprint (BioWeb at Saunders College Publishing) http://www.harcourtcollege.com/lifesci/bioweb/depts/process/mar99.html 3) Tracking and Track Identification http://troop608.pen.net/newsviews/tracking.htm 4) Learning to Read Animal Tracks, Michael Carter (Fur-Fish-Game, December 1993) http://www.netside.com/~lcoble/dir9/antrack.txt 5) Animal Tracking http://www.wildnetafrica.co.za/wildlifestuff/juniorpage/spoor/spoor.html   U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service  http://www.r6.fws.gov/alamosanwr/Classroom/Tracks%20Quiz/tracks.htm Try the track identification quiz.    Wild Animal Tracking by W.J. Prescott http://forteansociety.tripod.com/tracker1.html Here is a brief article on animal tracking. Similar Article: 2) Stalking the Wild Things by B. Girdler http://www.tomifobia.com/girdler/animal_tracking.html   Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources  http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/nature/track.htm Examine the information resources page and links to activities such as the Tracking Quizzler.   Websites for Teachers Animal Signs - Animal Tracking http://www.eagle-bluff.org/pages/animalsigns.html This is a lesson plan outline for animal tracking. Related Website: 2) Introduction to Animal Tracking http://tcska.org/BITA/bio/intro.html   Animal Tracking (Grades K-5) http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/inventorsandinventions1/animaltracking/index.html Here is a brief lesson plan on animal tracking that involves observation and journal writing.   Animal Tracking by D. Anastasio http://www.sesameworkshop.org/parents/activity/article/0,4117,14966,00.html What animal prints can you find in this outdoor activity?   Animal Tracks http://www.lite.iwarp.com/bltgr1.htm#1tracks Here is a sample lesson plan for integrating reading and learning about animal tracks.   Outdoor Action Guide to Animal Tracking by Rick Curtis http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/nature/tracking.shtml The information in this workshop is taken from notes of a course at Tom Brown's Tracking School in New Jersey, in a course taught by John Stokes of The Tracking Project, and from personal tracking experience. Alternate Location: 2) Outdoor Action Guide to Animal Tracking http://www.icomm.ca/survival/140-tips.don/tracking.htm   tracking scat droppings footprints tracks claws trail den tracker scent marking paw print toe digs toes hoof animal bird hind feet stalking signature track downwind sign stride scuff marks front feet snow fore print hind print pattern bound gallop hop size trot alternating dewclaws register straddle stride length width creatures of the night variation       Created by Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson, Updated by Nancy Smith, 1/02.