Collect It

Animal Tracks

Animal Prints

Start a collection of animal prints to remember your animal tracking adventures! Here is what you need to make your plaster cast:

• Plaster of Paris (or dental stone)
• a mixing container
• water
• a Popsicle stick
• a paper clip
• a cardboard strip

You need to find an animal print before you can cast it! Tracking animals can be hard work if you don’t know where to start. Here are a couple of tips to remember on your animal tracking adventure:

Tip #1 – Mud puddles or recently dried puddles are great places to look for animal tracks.

Tip #2 – Animals are most active during the early hours of morning (dawn).

Tip #3 – Try to keep the track between you and the sun, especially during the early hours of morning. The low sun makes long shadows and this makes the tracks stand out better.

Safety First
Andy has a lot of fun tracking animals, but he’s also smart about it. He knows that all animals can be unpredictable, and sometimes dangerous! So he plays by the following rules:

Rule #1 – Keep a safe distance between yourself and any wild animal!

How would you react if a stranger was tracking you all day? You might be a little nervous, annoyed, and even angry. Well, animals can feel that way too…and sometimes they’ll defend themselves if they feel threatened! If you do come upon a wild animal while you are tracking, always keep a safe distance between you and the animal, and give the animal an escape route.

Rule #2 – Never invade the home of a wild animal!

If you come upon the home of a wild animal while you are tracking, stay a good distance away. Many animals will defend their homes and their young. This can be very dangerous! And if an animal’s home is invaded too often, it will pack up and leave. If one animal leaves, other animals will follow. Then there would be no animal prints to track anymore!

Once you have found a track, follow the step-by-step instructions at the right-hand side of this page to perfect your cast.