How many toes does an otter have? How do you tell a fox print from a dog print? Who ate the pinecone on the forest floor? Our Animal Tracks and Signs course will teach you all of this and much, much more!
By learning about the tracks and signs left behind by animals we can get an insight into their behaviour, decision-making and motivations.
This course has been developed in collaboration with the highly acclaimed bushcraft school, Woodsmoke, based in Cumbria.
By learning the tracks and signs left behind by animals we can get an insight into their behaviour, decision-making and motivations.
You will use your senses and be more aware of what is around you when moving through an environment rather than focussing on an end goal or destination. Other skills covered will include:
- Tracking history and terminology
- Understanding animal senses and how they detect humans
- How to analyse and identify animal tracks and signs
- Ageing of footprints and tracks
- Animal habitats, feeding, hair and scat
- Bird, mammal and reptile behaviour
This course is designed for teachers, outdoor instructors, rangers, wildlife enthusiasts, and anyone who would like to learn more about nature and the native wildlife in our local habitats.
This is a stimulating and jam-jacked six-day course, where you will discover the art of animal tracking, and which will lead to an NCFE Level 3 Award upon completion of the assessments. Assessment is based on a combination of practical and written skills. Like our other courses, there is a strong emphasis on experiential learning, which will include skills and techniques you cannot learn from any book.
You do not need any previous tracking experience.
A course handbook, transport and equipment are all provided as part of the course.
Instruction and supervision is provided by our qualified and experienced Wild things! activity leaders. Maximum group size is 12 participants. Emergency Transport (4-wheel drive vehicle) is always available.
We have a selection of excellent venues for delivery of our Animal Tracks and Signs course this year:
- Logie Steading is at the heart of Logie Estate in Dunphail, just outside Forres. It has excellent classroom facilities, a cafe and access to nearby woodland for the practical sessions.
We can supply a list of nearby accommodation options for each of our venues on request.
Our Animal Tracks and Signs is priced at just £450 for the full 6-Day course. The course fee includes tuition, assessment, registration fees, and all necessary materials. The fee does not include accommodation or any meals. We can supply a list of nearby accommodation for each venue if required.
Select your course and complete the online booking form and make payment to confirm your place.
Please feel free to Contact Us for additional information, or if you wish to pay a deposit to secure your booking.
The Animal Tracks and Signs course has been accredited by NCFE. The assessments for each course are internally verified by our own experienced team of instructors and externally verified by NCFE.
This course has been accredited under Wild things! Environmental Education in Action’s IIQ licence and we have benchmarked the course’s learning outcomes at Level 3 to allow students to consider the difficulty and depth of study.
On completion of this course, learners will receive a certificate of achievement from NCFE through our IIQ licence. This certificate of achievement is not a nationally regulated qualification.
“Wild things does for environmental education what Ray Mears has done for bush craft, and Bear Grylls has done for survival training.” Course Graduate