Essential Skills For Identifying And Trailing Animals

The Scouting Guide to Tracking: An Officially-Licensed Book of the Boy Scouts of America: Essential Skills for Identifying and Trailing Animals (A BSA Scouting Guide)

by Len McDougall

4.5 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	101444 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Word Wise	:	Enabled
Print length	:	354 pages

FREE

Identifying and trailing animals is an essential skill for any outdoorsman. Whether you're hunting, hiking, or just exploring the wilderness, being able to track animals can help you find food, avoid danger, and learn more about the natural world.

The Boy Scouts of America has developed a set of guidelines to help you learn how to identify and trail animals. These guidelines are based on the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

Sight

The first step in identifying an animal is to see it. This may seem obvious, but it can be difficult to spot an animal in the wild, especially if it's well-camouflaged.

There are a few things you can do to improve your chances of seeing an animal:

• Be patient. Animals are often more active at dawn and dusk, so these are the best times to look for them.
• Be quiet. Animals are easily spooked by noise, so try to move slowly and quietly through the woods.
• Use binoculars. Binoculars can help you get a closer look at animals, even if they're far away.

Once you've spotted an animal, take a close look at its physical characteristics. These characteristics can help you identify the animal and track it if it runs away.

Some of the physical characteristics you should look for include:

• Size
• Shape
• Color
• Markings
• Behavior

Hearing

In addition to sight, hearing is another important sense for identifying and trailing animals. Animals make a variety of sounds, including vocalizations, footsteps, and wingbeats.

By learning to identify these sounds, you can often tell what type of animal is in the area, even if you can't see it.

Some of the sounds you should listen for include:

• Vocalizations: These include calls, whistles, barks, and growls.
• Footsteps: The sound of an animal's footsteps can tell you how big it is and how fast it's moving.
• Wingbeats: The sound of an animal's wingbeats can tell you what type of bird it is.

Smell

Smell is another important sense for tracking animals. Animals leave behind a variety of scents, including urine, feces, and body odor.

By learning to identify these scents, you can often track an animal even if you can't see it.

Some of the scents you should smell for include:

• Urine: The smell of urine can tell you what type of animal it is, how old it is, and whether it's male or female.
• Feces: The smell of feces can tell you what type of animal it is and what it has been eating.
• Body odor: The smell of an animal's body odor can tell you what type of animal it is and whether it's healthy.

Taste

Taste is not as important as the other senses for identifying and trailing animals, but it can still be helpful.

For example, if you taste something sweet, it could be a sign that there is a fruit tree nearby. If you taste something salty, it could be a sign that there is a salt lick in the area.

Touch

Touch is another sense that can be helpful for identifying and trailing animals.

For example, if you touch something and it feels soft, it could be a sign that it's fur. If you touch something and it feels hard, it could be a sign that it's a bone.

Putting it all together

By using all of your senses, you can learn to identify and trail animals. This skill can be helpful for a variety of outdoor activities, including hunting, hiking, and exploring the wilderness.

Here are a few tips for putting it all together:

• Start by learning to identify the common animals in your area.
• Practice using your senses to identify animals. The more you practice, the better you will get at it.
• Be patient. It takes time to learn how to identify and trail animals.
• Don't be afraid to ask for help from a more experienced outdoorsman.

With a little practice, you'll be able to identify and trail animals like a pro.

The Scouting Guide to Tracking: An Officially-Licensed Book of the Boy Scouts of America: Essential Skills for Identifying and Trailing Animals (A BSA Scouting Guide)

by Len McDougall

4.5 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	101444 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Word Wise	:	Enabled
Print length	:	354 pages

FREE