Animal Tracks and Scats Resource Guide

Animal Tracks and Scats Resource Guide
Arnosky, J. (2008). Wild Tracks!: A Guide to Nature’s Footprints. Sterling Books. (ISBN#: 1402739850)
Branzei, S. (2004). Animal Grossology: The Science of Creatures Gross and Disgusting. New York: Price Stern
Sloan. (ISBN#: 0-8431-1011-2)
Brown, Jr., T. (1999). The Science and Art of Tracking: Nature’s Path to Spiritual Discovery. New York: The
Berkley Publishing Group. (ISBN#: 9780425157725)
Duda, Mark Damian. (1995). Watching Wildlife: Tips, gear and great places for enjoying America’s wild
creatures. Helena and Billings, Montana: Falcon Press Publishing Co , Inc. (ISBN#: 1-56044-315-4)
Eiseman, Charley & Charney, Noah. (2010). Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates: A Guide to
North American Species. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. (ISBN#: 978-0-8117-3624-4)
Elbroch, M. (2003). Mammal Tracks & Sign: A Guide to North American Species. Pennsylvania: Stackpole
Books. (ISBN#: 97808117726269)
Elbroch, M. (2001). Bird Tracks & Sign: A Guide to North American Species. Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books.
(ISBN#:0-8117-2696-7-90000)
Gibbons, D. K. (2008). Stories in Tracks & Sign: Reading the Clues that Animals Leave Behind. Pennsylvania:
Stackpole Books. (ISBN#: 978-0-8117-3508-7)
Goodman, S. (2004). The Truth About Poop. New York: Scholastic Inc. (ISBN#: 9780439902953)
Halfpenny, J. (1986). A Field Guide to Mammal Tracking in North America. USA. (ISBN#: 0-933472-98-6)
Halfpenny, Ph.D., J. (2000). Scats and Tracks of the Desert Southwest (tons more options!!!). Connecticut: The
Globe Pequot Press. (ISBN#: 9781560447863)
Hickman, Pamela & Stephens, Pat. (1998). Animal Senses: How Animals See, Hear, Taste, Smell and Feel.
Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press Ltd. (ISBN#: 978-`-55074-425-5
Landstrom, Lee A. & Shragg, Karen I. (2003). Nature’s Yucky!: Gross Stuff That Helps Nature Work. Missoula,
MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company. (ISBN#: 0-87842-474-1)
Liesbenberg, Louis, Louw, Adriaan & Elbroch, Mark. (2010). Practical Tracking: A Guide to Following
Footprints & Finding Animals. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Press. (ISBN#: 978-0-8117-3627-5)
Levine, L. & Mitchel, M. Mammal Tracks: Life Size Tracking Guide. (ISBN#: 097036540-3)
www.LetsGoOutside.org
Lowery, J. (2006). The Tracker’s Field Guide. Connecticut: Morris Book Publishing. (ISBN#: 9780762739813)
Lynch, W. (2001). The Scoop on Poop! Calgary, Alberta: Fifth House Publishers. (ISBN#: 1-89400-459-0)
McDougall, L. (1997). The Complete Tracker: Tracks, Signs, and Habits of North American Wildlife.
Connecticut: Lyons Press. (ISBN#: 9781558214583)
McDougall, L. (2004). The Encyclopedia of Tracks and Scats: A Comprehensive Guide to the Trackable
Animals of the United States and Canada. Connecticut: Lyons Press. (ISBN#: 1-59228-070-6)
Merlin, Pinau. (2003). A Field Guide to Desert Holes. Tucson, AZ: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Press.
(ISBN#: 1-886679-23-1)
Murie, O. (1982). Peterson Field Guide: Animal Tracks. Houghlin Mifflin Company. New York, NY. (ISBN#:
978039591048)
NAI Region 4. “Scat, Tracks & Other Animal Signs.” FourThought, 2001. (purchased at Acorn Naturalists).
Pagett, M. (2007). What Shat That? A Pocket Guide to Poop Identity. Quid Publishing. Berkley, CA. (ISBN#:
9871580088855).
Rezendes, P. (1999). Tracking and the Art of Seeing: How to Read Animal Tracks and Sign. HarperCollins
Publisher. New York, NY. (ISBN#: 9780062755249)
Sheldon, I. (1998). Animal Tracks of Northern California (Southern California.) Lone Pine Publishing. Canada.
(ISBN#: 978155105103)
Young, J. and Morgan, T. (2007). Animal Tracking Basics. Stackpole Books. Mechanicsburg, PA. (ISBN#: 978-08117-3326-7)
Pseudo Scats, Tracks, and More!
Acorn Naturalists, www.acornnaturalists.com
Nature Watch, www.nature-watch.com
Skulls Unlimited, www.skullsunlimited.com
www.LetsGoOutside.org
Animal Tracks Observation Form
Date_________________ Time________________ Species____________________ sex___________
Habitat__________________________________ Location (canyon)___________________________
Material of location (sand, mud, leaves) __________________________________________________
Temp______ Wind______ Humidity _______Clouds______ Recent Weather____________________
Picture (s) #________________________________________________________________________
TRACK/MARKS
PATTERN
Front Right: W________ L ________
Rear Right: W________ L ________
Front Left: W________ L ________
Rear Left:
Right Stride __________
Left Stride ___________
Straddle _____________
Trail Width __________
Claws showing _______
Gait ________________
W________ L ________
Track age and how determined:
Other observations:
www.LetsGoOutside.org
Scit Scat, Diddily Doo
© 2004 Foster Brown
Scit, scat, diddily doo…
I just stepped in some animal poo!
Don’t put on airs. Don’t wrinkle your nose;
There’s much about scat that we can know.
Don’t just stand there, let’s take a look.
Oh, wait a sec, I’ll get my book.
There are clues to find in poo, it’s true;
We’ll lean down closer, get a better view.
Are there berries and seeds mixed in? Can you tell?
Is it laid in a mound? Have a unique smell?
Is it dry or wet? Is it long and lean?
Are there hairs within? Is it brown or green?
(Chorus)
We can tell what it ate, we can tell where it’s been;
if it’s a predator or prey or even a friend.
All creatures eat and excrete their waste.
It’s a private thing, but it’s no disgrace.
Porcupine poo has a resinous smell.
Mink scat is filled with bone and shell.
Weasel feces end in a twist.
There are so many more to add to your list!
Scatologists research animal dung.
It’s a noble profession for the old and young.
Rabbit excreta looks like M&M’s.
Raccoon dejecta is flat at both ends.
Splay from birds rain down from the sky.
Pellets from deer are let loose on the fly.
So imagine that, we’re studying scat
of a big brown bear or a little brown bat.
It’s scientific, it stretches the mind;
to investigate poo of all different kinds.
(Chorus)
Scit Scat, Diddily Doo
© 2004 Foster Brown
Cleveland Metro Parks
http://www.fosterbrown.net/index.html
Scat and Track Vocabulary
Cloaca: One hole to secrete all waste.
Copophagous: To eat your own poop.
Cecotropes: aka night feces: Smaller, softer, darker, and more moist than hard fecal pellets, cecotropes are also
covered in greenish mucus that makes them clump together. Smelly due to the bacteria.
Casting: Bird droppings (noun). Also the act of making a plaster track cast (verb).
Digitigrade: The practice of walking or running with the weight forward, on the toes; a characteristic common to
four-legged animals, both predator and prey, that are designed for running at high speeds.
Frass: Caterpillar droppings
Gait: The speed, or pace, at which an animal is traveling, evidenced by differences in the way tracks are grouped.
The three gaits consist of walking, trotting and running.
Hoof: The hard lowermost portion of an herbivorous animal’s foot, actually modified claws that have evolved to
give hoofed species like deer, horse, and bovids (cows) good running speed on firm ground.
Pad: The fleshy bottom portion of an animal’s paw or hoof, usually consisting of toes and a heel pad.
Paw: The foot-like part at the end of a forelimb, consisting of toes, a sole or heal pad, and claw.
Pes: A foot or foot like part, especially the foot or paw of a four-footed animal.
Pollex: The innermost forelimb digit; the thumb.
Print: An impression left in soil or snow, usually by an animal’s feet, but sometimes by its tail or nose.
Scat: Solid or semi-solid excrement; feces.
Sign: Any of a variety of markings that indicate the presence of an animal, including tracks, scats, scents, and
disturbances to the area where an animal passed or lives.
Straddle: The average distance between tracks made by an animals’ right legs and its left legs.
Stride: Distance a walking animal’s foot travels from the point where it leaves the ground to the point where it
again makes contact.
Track: A mark left on the earth by an animal’s foot, usually an impression in soil or snow.
Kelley Reetz, Interpretive Specialist
[email protected]
www.LetsGoOutside.org