Animal tracking anyone?

Or spoor-ing, as they say in South Africa?

It was intended initially as a bird watching trip along an old disused logging trail near Lambir for a few folks who we thought would like to learn more about birds and birdwatching in general. No one turned up! (There were a couple family, but we didn't know they were coming!)

Initially we saw pig tracks, then something smaller ... little baby pigs. We saw several of what could be those from a monkey? But a monkey in Lambir? Then a squirrel and then something slightly larger ... a civet perhaps.

Two bigger cat like tracks were further up the trail ... one with rectracted claws and one not. Could be dogs? Could be cats? We also found a site with bigger cat-like tracks trying to climb or jump over a knoll ... claws were clearly out to provide that extra push perhaps.

All these tracks rekindled my childhood memory of following a tiger' s paw prints in the sand when we were playing around in the forest around 10 or 11 years old back in the family's orchard near the border between Pahang and Trengganu. We had several dogs then, boy, they were keen. There were big paws ... sometimes you see them on the beach too.

I think I may have found another hobby, spoor-ing and making plaster casts of animal tracks. Wonder if I can get the kids interested in this? Would they be?

Incidentally our birdlists for the day:

Little Green Pigeon, Black-bellied Malkoha, Chestnut-breasted Malkoha, Yellow-bellied Prinia, Red-bearded Bee-eater, Yellow and black Broadbill, Black-thigh Falconet, Brown Barbets, Hill Myna, Ashy Tailorbird and Creamy-vented Bulbul. Plenty of calls that we couldn't id ... there's definitely one cuckoo in them bushes somewhere.

We: Steve Dexter and I.