Nature MB - requirement for making plaster casts

[Quailman]

The requirement reads "Make plaster casts of the tracks of a wild animal."

I am planning a program to cover this entire badge in a day at a nearby state park. The way this requirement reads, it seems like a good positve cast of a deer or coyote track would not suffice. The scout would need to make two or more casts. It's often difficult to find acceptable impressions for casting. Either the soil is too sandy or rocky, or too many leaves, or it rained the night before. I think that if a boy makes a negative cast (pours the plaster into the impression getting a mold in which the track is raised) and after it hardens he coats it with WD-40 and makes a positive cast, he has learned what to do.

So do I really have to have each boy make two casts? Even if one covered multiple tracks, it is still one. And if he needs to make more than one, does this requirement allow for different animals? Though this is under the Mammal category, he could do egret or alligator tracks and still and still qualify.

[Billiken]

The requirement reads "Make plaster casts of the tracks of a wild animal."

I am planning a program to cover this entire badge in a day at a nearby state park. The way this requirement reads, it seems like a good positve cast of a deer or coyote track would not suffice. The scout would need to make two or more casts. It's often difficult to find acceptable impressions for casting. Either the soil is too sandy or rocky, or too many leaves, or it rained the night before. I think that if a boy makes a negative cast (pours the plaster into the impression getting a mold in which the track is raised) and after it hardens he coats it with WD-40 and makes a positive cast, he has learned what to do.

So do I really have to have each boy make two casts? Even if one covered multiple tracks, it is still one. And if he needs to make more than one, does this requirement allow for different animals? Though this is under the Mammal category, he could do egret or alligator tracks and still and still qualify.

"Animal" is singular. I read it as the boy need only make a cast of ONE animal.

Pour the mix into the track impression. When it drys, you're done.
IMO, the WD-40...positive cast step is adding to the requirement.

[Lynda J]

I agree with Billiken. requiring the WD 40 reverse cast is adding a requirement not listed.

As far as raining the night before. Some of the best casting I have done was after a rain. Deer especially will get up very early in the morning after a rain and go out. Their prints are very clear.
Also if you are in an area that has wild pigs, they make really good cast prints.

[jhawk]

I think it has to be a mammal since it falls under the mammal category. If it could be any wild animal, it wouldn't be listed under mammal, it would be listed as a numbered requirement without regard to bird, mammal, reptile, etc. You could have each scout make their own cast as a pre-requisite and have them bring them to share. Or you can try to find one at the state park and do one or more as a group. You might find deer or coon tracks along a stream bank. I remember when my son was doing his hiking badge, we happened to see a perfect little squirrel print in the mud at the end of a 23 mile hike. He was also working on nature at the time, and he needed that cast to finish the badge. We marked the spot, hiked home, got a box of plaster and a plastic bowl, walked all the way back, mixed up the plaster and made a cast. He played baseball near the site with his sisters while waiting for the plaster to dry while I relaxed in the shade with tired feet.
Great tracks can be found if you look carefully.
I think a negative cast is just fine. I don't think a two-step process is necessary, but it might be a fun project to collect a variety of negative casts and make a positive cast of mammals found in an area to use as a teaching tool for scouts who might not have a lot of animal track experience.

[Lynda J]

If the boys are also working on the hiking merit badge why not carry a small zip lock bag of plaster powder. You can add the water to the bag and make the cast.

I agree that it does need to be a mammal track.

Check with your local nature center. Many times they will work with you on this type of badge. They know where the best chance of finding tracks is in their area. Also near rivers see if you can find nutra tracks. There is a section of the Trinity river that has nutras. Also call your local game and fish office and see if you can find where there are beaver dams.

Also if you are in areas that have wild mustangs. They are mammals. So are bison. So don't put blinders on regarding the type of wild mammal you try to find. Saw a young man that did a bear track.
So get with nature people in your area and see what options you have and don't limit them to the really common ones.

[Quailman]

Then it's settled. We'll do one cast of a mammal print. We do have feral hogs in this area -they cause big problems with their rooting in our parks. But all I've ever noticed is the upturned soil. Opossums have interesting tracks. So do raccoons. All live in our area.

I'm planning a summer visit to Yellowstone with my son and hope to collect elk, moose, coyote, bison, et al. When I last visited with my older son we saw clear tracks of wolf and grizzly bear, but these were in the backcountry.

Oh, and for a frame, I cut one inch high rings from plastic pop (soda) bottles. These worked quite well when I made one (of my dog).

Thanks for the feedback!

[Lynda J]

Have fun.

[Mantowagan]

When I was working at our local Council Camp during the summer, our Program Director emphasized the importance of doing requirements by the letter, exactly as its written. To that end, the use of "animal tracks" instead of "mammal tracks" made any animal track usable (per the Program Director). However, deer are plentiful in camp and often the best tracks were deer tracks, so I never ran into problems there.