MUSEUM OFFERS CLASS IN IDENTIFYING, COLLECTING ANIMAL TRACKS

For anyone who has ever seen animal tracks in a streambed or trail and wished they could tell what animal it was, the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History has a program that can provide answers. “Animal Tracks: Identification and Collecting,” scheduled for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 26, will give participants hands-on experience in identification of tracks and creating plaster casts for collection.

Nick Czaplewski, curator of vertebrate paleontology and avid naturalist, will lead this adult workshop and field excursion. The program will begin in one of the museum classrooms, where Czaplewski will help participants learn the basics of identifying the tracks and gait patterns of many common Oklahoma animals. Participants will learn not only to identify “clear-prints” in soft earth, but also how to look for compression prints on grass and to interpret pressure releases – movements in the soil that can give clues as to the animal’s direction of movement and speed. The group will then caravan in their own cars to a nearby site (weather permitting) to find, identify and prepare plaster casts of animal tracks to take home.

The fee for the workshop is $20 per person for museum members or $30 per person for non-members. Advance registration is required. To register, call the museum education department at (405) 325-4712.

Information about this and other programs of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History are available on the Web at www.snomnh.ou.edu. The museum is located on the University of Oklahoma Norman campus.