Animal Tracks And Signs (1961)

[Music] [Applause] [Applause] these footprints in stone were made a long long time ago by a dinosaur and these footprints in the snow were made just a minute ago by a boy and his dog these hoof tracks were left by a deer and these bushes with the parts eaten off are a sign that deer have been eating on them Indians depended on wild animals for much of their food to help them find their prey they studied the tracks and signs that all animals leave behind wherever they go animals leave tracks in snow on the sand and in mud some other signs animals leave for us to see are chewed Twigs bits of fur nutshells cocoons and eaten leaves many wild animals today especially those living near cities are nocturnal that is they come out of hiding at night when people are not about even though we don't usually see them by day we can tell they've been around by the tracks and signs they leave have you ever looked around your backyard to see what animal signs you can find in the curled cabbage leaves Sue has found aphids aphids live on leaves Johnny notices something in front of the mo a garter snake has shed its skin a snake skin is a sure sign a snake has been there and Johnny and Sue spot it wriggling through the grass the children know that some snakes are poisonous so they're careful not to pick this one up by learning to look for their signs you can find out what animals live in your neighborhood Sue has found a piece of blue eggshell can you help her guess what bird laid the egg Sue hears the mother bird chirping in the nearby tree and now she can see where the eggshell came from a robin's nest [Music] sounds animals make are another sign that they are near us the sound of buzzing of paper wasps and other stinging insects warn us to keep away the woods and fields are usually the best places to find animal tracks and signs this black feather that Sue has found this Nest high up in the tree young birds with long beaks in the nest and the motherb birds call all these are signs that tell us a crow has its nest here you too can find out what animals live in your neighborhood by mixing up some mud and making an animal signs trap as Johnny and Sue are doing after stirring the mud until it looks like soft ice cream Johnny and Sue take it to the nearby Woods Sue has brought along her father's trowel to smooth out the mud after it has been poured into a hollow in the ground but any flat smooth board you can find will do just as well after smoothing out the mud the children bait their trap with a nut a piece of bread or candy can also serve as bait Johnny and Sue hide to see what will happen their first visitor is a curious squirrel Johnny wonders if it has seen the nut there it goes right onto the mud trap leaving tracks for us to see Sue can hardly wait for the squirrel to finish eating the nut and leave so she and Johnny can look more closely at the tracks Johnny points to the marks left by the squirrel's sharp claws which it uses for climbing Sue looks up the squirrel in her animal track's book to see if the pictures are the same as the real Footprints with a book like this it's easy to identify animal tracks before going home they smooth out the mud again to see what animals might visit their trap during the night the next day they anxiously hurry back to their animal signs trap John finds these Footprints clearly visible in the mud using the animal tracks book Sue compares the long marks in the mud with the drawings in the book although animals don't always leave clear tracks that look exactly like the pictures in the book Sue thinks these belong to a cottontail rabbit at the edge of the Trap they find another set of prints they can tell these tracks belong to a red fox Johnny and Sue imagined that a Hungry Fox with its good sense of smell had picked up the trail of the rabbit as it ran through the woods the rabbit easily crossed the mud trap and was soon followed by the fox do you think Johnny and Sue guessed right another animal which crossed Johnny and Sue's animal signs trap was this slow moving turtle on its way through the woods leaving a trail that's easy to see can you tell which is the mark left by its long tail just by walking through the woods and looking about you you may discover other signs of animals John has found a cocoon a sign of a caterpillar caterpillars make cocoons while changing into butterflies and moths the caterpillar in this cocoon has already changed into a moth now it will leave its protective shell and spread its wings to dry before it can fly this web is the sign that tent caterpillars live here can you see why they are called tent caterpillars many wild animals build their homes by ponds and streams this house in the water built of reeds and rushes and these tracks with the mark of a tail long enough to reach the ground were made by a muskrat muskrats seldom leave the protection of their homes and the water their heavy oily fur keeps them warm and dry the sandy beaches along a lake or at the seashore are also good places to find tracks and signs Johnny has never seen these tracks before following the tracks he and Sue soon find the animal it's the horseshoe crab its many legs tail and shell leaving a trail wherever it goes the next time you go for a walk look around perhaps you can find these tracks and signs a garter snake skin rabbit tracks in the snow or mud Crow's eggs a mole's burrow or even a squirrel's Den [Music]