By Janine Kohn, PF/QF National Education Specialist Photos By Benji Kohn
Humans have been practicing the art of animal tracking since we became hunter-gatherers many millions of years ago. Today’s hunters, soldiers, police and others have kept this ancient art alive. For hunters, a wide array of techniques and methods have been passed down through the years, but in all situations, tracking “opens the door” to the life of the animal or species being observed or hunted.
Max, the yellow lab, is a superb tracker and does some investigating on his own!
Most nature enthusiasts like to observe wildlife up-close or through binoculars and scopes; however, we gain a better understanding of the animal’s behavior by interpreting its tracks and signs. Once you have practiced and mastered the art of tracking and know what to look for, you gain valuable information about the wildlife you track. The best part is that you may even get the chance to observe your quarry up close and undisturbed in its natural habitat.
What Skills are Needed?
Tracking requires patience, concentration, perseverance, alertness, keen senses (listening, seeing, smelling), physical endurance, vivid memory, a sense of adventure, creativity, imagination and a true love of the outdoors!
There are tracks everywhere outdoors. You just have to look to find them! The most likely locations to find animal tracks include sandy beaches or desert areas, pastures, along trails, in wooded locations or near riparian (water) areas. There is not an ideal or “prime time” for scouting tracks; however, it is a bit easier when the ground is moist perhaps from a rain or snowfall. Tracking is contagious. After going out and exploring, you may never view a riverbank or the markings in the snow quite the same!
Solving the Clues: Which Animal and What was It Doing?
To the nature detective, tracks are the clues animals leave behind. Was a track made by ‘Colonel Eagle’ with his talons in the treetops or by ‘Miss Scarlet Tanager’ with her beak in the old oak tree? Perhaps it was ‘Professor Rabbit’ with his pink markings in the snow? It could have been ‘Mrs. White Tail’ in her high–hoofed heels. The possibilities are endless if you can take these clues and try to re-create what the animal was doing on the landscape. You can even try to predict what it will do next!
The early morning snow highlights a mystery to be solved!
Master trackers, internationally referred to as “cyber trackers,” are able to recognize and follow animals by their tracks, signs and trails known as spoor. As a nature detective, you can also explore the clues and spoor and come up with your own predictions. Keep an eye out not only for animal tracks, but other signs such as scat, kills, feathers, trails, drag marks, scratching posts, browse marks, habitat clues and bedding sites. Take these clues, record them and follow your quarry’s spoor to the location where it came from or where it was going. Make a prediction of its actions and what it encountered along its travels!
A Surprise!
Now go outside and become a master tracker. Find the mysteries your neighborhood critters have left behind for you to solve! For practice, look at the animal markings cover of this issue of Upland Tales. What happened? Send your predictions and current mailing address to jkohn@pheasantsforever.org. The first 10 predictions I receive will be sent a special “Tracking” surprise! Happy Trails, or should I say, Happy Spoors!
If you live in the Chicago Illinois area visit the CPD page to find out how you can rent snowshoes or cross country skis for free and do some tracking of your own.
Want to do some practicing before the snow falls? Check out the Wisconsin DNR’s EEK webpage for more tracking hints and a Tricky Tracks Quiz.
