How to Track Mammals

Summary: Animal tracking is an art, a skill that has been used by hunters for ages. The first trackers were innately familiar with their natural surroundings and had trained themselves to find clues to an animal’s presence. In the wild, uncivilized world, learning how to find spoor, or signs of an animal disturbance, determined whether or not you survived. Because early societies often relied heavily upon animals for many of their needs, hunter-trackers studied animal behavior, such as when migration or mating were to occur, what an animal might do in a chase situation, what they ate, and where those foods might be found. Nowadays, many of us no longer practice these skills, because we have a ready supply of food and clothing, and we have built more permanent shelter. The art of animal husbandry has replaced hunting, and the great outdoors have become the great indoors. Barring the eventual collapse of society and a return to the wild en masse, tracking no longer serves our most basic needs…but it has applications that prove useful for today. In this free instructional video series, our experts give you a field guide on how to identify various mammal tracks. The next time you go hiking in the forest, put these skills to use and see what mammals you can identify.