Animal track facts for kids

Bird tracks in snow.

An animal track is a mark left on the ground by an animal. You can see these marks in soft places like soil, snow, or mud. When an animal walks, its feet press into the ground, leaving a print.

People use animal tracks for different reasons. Hunters follow tracks to find animals. Naturalists, who study nature, use tracks to figure out what animals live in an place. It's like a detective game!

It can be tricky to identify tracks. Books help a lot. Tracks can look different depending on how heavy the animal is. The type of ground also changes how a track looks.

Sometimes, animal tracks can last for millions of years! These are called fossil tracks. We can see fossilized Dinosaur tracks in some rocks. These special fossils are called trace fossils. They are not the animal itself, but a sign that an animal was there. In paleontology, which is the study of fossils, tracks often turn into rock. They form a natural mold of the animal's foot.