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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)

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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#: 978-0-8117-3326-7)

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: W________ L ________

Right Stride __________ Left Stride ___________

Straddle _____________ Trail Width __________

Claws showing _______ Gait ________________

Track age and how determined:

Other observations:

Scit Scat, Diddily Doo © 2004 Foster Brown

Scit Scat, Diddily Doo Cleveland Metro Parks

© 2004 Foster Brown http://www.fosterbrown.net/index.html

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)

Kelley Reetz, Interpretive Specialist www.LetsGoOutside.org

kreetz@irconservancy.org

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.