Along with wet winter snow, the spring mud makes for the best tracking surface. Now is a good time to observe, learn about and even cast animal tracks.

Getting out in the woods and fields is the first step. Next, having a good field guide helps with identification, and the process of casting tracks, as either a learning tool for kids or just a hobby, is an easy one.

You will need Plaster of Paris, an empty gallon milk container, scissors and some kind of container to mix the plaster in.

Once you find a clear track, cut the midsection of the milk container into a band about two inches thick to surround the track with it; that will prevent the plaster from running off. The bottom of the cut container makes a good mixing bowl.

Next, mix the plaster with water until the consistency of cake mix and pour it in the frame. Let sit until the plaster hardens (it may take hours).

When the plaster is hard, you will have a form to make the final impression.

Using the remaining bottom of the milk container, add more plaster and water, then spray the hardened print with Pam, and set it into the soft plaster; let it harden.

The mold should come off without too much effort.

What is left is the imprint of the track, just as the animal (or bird) made it.

New Animal Tracks Guide Out

Lynn Levine and Martha Mitchell from Vermont have published "Mammal Tracks and Scat, a Life-Size Tracking Guide."

Their 24-page, 8-by-11-inch guide contains a section on animal movement as it affects track formation (hoppers, bounders, waddlers, etc.), then large drawings of the actual tracks.

My only criticism is that the sizes and page ruler are only in metric, and while I can convert to centimeters, I think in terms of inches and feet.

The book concludes with a scat key. You can find out what animal took the dump you are looking at by quickly following the key and comparing it with the illustrations.