Try these awareness activities each time you go outside, and you will start to recognize the signs of wildlife in your neighborhood. Then you can try to identify them and learn more about them. 

• What do you hear? Sometimes animals are easier to hear than to see, so let's practice noticing their sounds. Go outside, close your eyes, and listen for bird songs. With your eyes still closed, point to where you hear a bird singing, or leaves rustling, or sticks snapping, etc. (animals make lots of sounds!). Then open your eyes and look for what made that sound!

• What evidence did the animal leave behind? Look for evidence of wildlife, such as bird droppings (which look kind of like white paint splatter), feathers, fur, nests and dens, cracked seeds, chewed leaves, or tracks (animal footprints).

• When was the animal there? Are the droppings fresh, or are they dried out? Are the tracks in dried mud, or did the animal walk there more recently? Where could the animal be now?

• What was the animal doing? When you see evidence of an animal, try to imagine that animal's behavior. Cracked nuts and seeds might mean an animal was eating there. An area of flattened grass might mean a large animal was resting or lying down there. A lot of feathers or fur in one place might mean an animal was eaten by another animal. Do the animal tracks show you which direction it walked in? When you find evidence of an animal, take a moment to record your notes by writing or drawing in your nature journal, or tell someone with you what you observed.

Practice identifying animals and their tracks by solving the mysteries below!