A Lesson In Tracking

I took my daughters for a walk in the woods behind our house Sunday. In the patches of snow and mud, I showed them various animal tracks and we worked on identifying deer, foxes, raccoons, etc. I showed them "deer beans", which they had a lot of fun finding and pointing out. We even kicked up 3 deer as we came around the creek bend.

When we turned to come back, I explained that we should be able to find the tracks we made on the way in, and follow them to get back the same way we came in. I told them this was called 'tracking'. To this, Raina responded with Sid the Sloth's line from the "Ice Age" movie -- "I see a tree, I eat a leaf, that's my tracking."

I love the way kids will pick up what you are telling them, and make associations to stuff they already know. I also love that they show an interest in the outdoors, at least for now. They will probably "turn into girls" at some point, and not want to hunt, fish, camp, etc., so I am enjoying it while I can.