Nature Study Activity: How to Build a Tracking Box

I'd been exploring nature on my own since I could crawl. As an adult, I discovered Tracker School, but by that time I was living in a 500-square-foot apartment. So, I practiced tracking my four cats and whatever urban wildlife strayed through my space.

I moved out of NYC when I began to recognize individual roaches. Once you recognize tiny tracks like that, cat tracks and people tracks are so much easier to spot.

Disclaimer: Choose your tracking box location carefully. The sand to fill it will likely weight half a ton, literally. Ideally you want the box to be accessible from all four sides and in an area that will not be needed for other living activities.

Materials for indoor tracking box:

# Wooden box - 4' square is ideal, but smaller will work for cats

# If you build a box you need lumber:

- 4' long, 10" wide and 1" thick

- 2' long, 10" wide and 1" thick

- nails or brackets to hold the wood together

# Sand - enough to fill the box 8" deep *

# Rake or kitty litter scoop to stir the sand

# Piece of wood to smooth out the sand

# Sheet of plastic to line inside of box

# Covering to protect floor under the box

# Bait **

Materials for outdoor tracking box: ***

# Lumber to build a box 6-8' long, 10" wide, 1" thick

# Nails or brackets to hold the wood together

# Sand - enough to fill the box

# Rake or kitty litter scoop to stir the sand

# Piece of wood to smooth out the sand

# Sheet of plastic to line bottom of box

# Optional:

Stakes, fishing wire or twine, bait to attract certain animals

Set Up:

1. Select an area that is level and accessible from all four sides

2. Outdoors:

- study the area for places animals might travel

- notice where leaves or other matter might fall into the box

- determine if you want the box in sun, shade or combination

3. Build the box

4. Put plastic liner along bottom

5. Put stakes on either end of the box

6. Tie wire or twine to stakes so it hangs over the box

7. Rake and smooth the sand, then begin studies

Tracking box study activities:

# Walk through the box - how far apart are the tracks?

# Run through the box - how are the tracks different?

# Poke a hole with a broom or rake handle every six hours - how do the older marks look?

# Attach a piece of apple, a nut or a carrot piece to the string. What was eaten? What tracks did you find?

# Cats have a special way of walking called "direct register." Can you tell the front from the back tracks?

# How many differences can you find in animal tracks? Spaces between footprints? Size of front and rear feet?

# What other signs did the animal leave? Hair, fur or scat? What can you learn from this?

* SAND - I used builder sand, which is sold in 50-pound bags and is much cheaper than playground sand. It's packaged, which is easier to work with. It takes a lot of water to moisten playground sand.

**BAIT - I had no trouble getting the cats into the box, but to keep them moving out of the box, rather than digging, I lured them with a treat.

*** If you have a level area outdoors, you do not need to build a tracking box. You can rake and smooth the area you wish to observe.

NOTE: I'm always looking for ways to improve projects and activities. Contact me with your results or if anything is unclear to you.

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