What Is Animal Tracking?

Series Summary

Animal tracking is used for hunting purposes and for mapping or understanding the traits of certain animals. In this sense, master trackers know animals through their tracks, beds, feces and hair as well as the other signs they leave behind. These signs include kills, drags, scratches, markings, sounds, feathers, and dens. Tracking has been practiced for centuries by humans, especially in hunter-gatherer societies. The art of tracking not only requires ability to recognize the signs but also the knowledge of what the signs and tracks may mean. Master trackers can determine if an animal is hurt, hungry, or sick by following its track.

In this series of expert videos, learn how to track animals from a master tracker. Watch these do-it-yourself videos before you head out on a nature walk and practice your tracking skills. Observe the tracks of birds, dogs, and cats by learning the tricks of the trade in these videos. Learn about foot morphology, stride, scat, and trail width as well as gallop patterns, animal gaits and tips for measuring tracks. Prepare yourself with expert tips on track packs and get to tracking!

This series is an Equilibrio Films production.

Video Transcript

"Hi! I’m Nick Wisniewski and this is Valerie Wisniewski on behalf of expertvillage.com. We are going to be talking about animal tracking today. For more information on how to learn how to animal track, you can check our website walnuthilltracking.com. We are here on the shore of a reservoir in central Massachusetts which is one of the most densely populated states in the country. This reservoir is a huge oasis of solitude and beauty. A vast track of undeveloped land and water. There are 25,000 acres of water here and 56,000 acres of protected land. This area is home to many species of animals including things like bobcats and bears and bald eagles and loons. There are over 412 billion gallons of water here and 118 miles of shoreline. In our programs, we can track many species which we have not seen in New England and in the United States for many years such as the moose, the fisher, the coyote and many other mammals. But you don’t have to come to a vast area of wilderness like this to track. In fact, what we are trying to do is introduce people to tracking so they can do tracking in their very own backyards. "