The Use of an Orthotic Casting Foam as a Track-Plate Medium for Wildlife Research and Monitoring

Track plates are an inexpensive, non-intrusive and widely used wildlife monitoring tool. Almost all track-plate media are not suited for use during rainy conditions, because rain or heavy dews can distort tracks or render the medium ineffective for registering further animal visitations. Furthermore, available track-plate media may also produce tracks of varying quality and hard-surfaced media produce inaccurate two-dimensional imprints. We experimented with the utility of using Biofoam™, a phenolic foam used in orthotics, as a track-plate medium. Domestic animals were utilized to produce track imprints on track plates constructed of casting foam, coarse sand, fine sand, very fine sand and sooted aluminum. Resulting tracks were photographed and images were used in a questionnaire which was completed by expert wildlife trackers who rated the quality of the tracks. Tracks in the casting foam are three-dimensional, register claws, clearly depict all pads, accurately record shape and size, and convey very fine anatomical details. Track imprints on the casting foam were rated consistently better by experts than track imprints left on the other media. Field trials demonstrated that the casting foam and tracks in the casting foam can endure lengthy periods of inclement weather conditions in the field without being damaged or distorted. In summary, where three-dimensional, high-quality prints need to be recorded in variable field conditions, we recommend the use and further experimentation with track plates made of casting foam.