My first attempt at making footprint casts

For a while now I have wanted to make plaster casts of wild animal footprints. You can make them from plaster of paris, using the impression of the animal's footprint as a mould, then you have a permanent model which you can take away showing the bottom of the animal's foot. 

I did these ones about a month ago, before the weather started to get cold. When it gets colder, it takes longer for the cast to set, so if you are in the UK this might be something to leave until next spring. Here's how I did it (and my way wasn't perfect !)

1. Get your stuff together

We had to get loads of equipment like a old drinks bottle, scissors, a spoon, and plaster of paris and we had to fit it all into a small bucket and then we put it in my rucksack. The old 2 litre drink bottle was for the water, the scissors were to cut the bottle and the spoon was for mixing the plaster. The top of the bottle would be for a funnel but we didn't use it in the end. It looks a lot but it all fitted together like this:

2. Find some footprints

I knew a muddy deer path that would be good for finding footprints and we found two good ones. Me and dad have walked by this path many times so we knew that there would be footprints. Deer footprints are called 'slots' and  look like two curved sausages side by side in this pic. The two toes can point together or further apart as the animal runs fast or downhill.

A good footprint will be clean, uncluttered and have no other footprints over the top. The best place to find them is in smooth mud. This one was perfect and it was from an adult red deer.

3. Prepare the site

I prepared two footprints at the same time.

I put a cut-out of a 2 litre bottle round the casts and pressed it into the mud so we could later pour the plaster of paris in to it.

4. Prepare the plaster of paris

As soon as plaster of paris is mixed, it goes hard, so you need to make it when you are right next to the footprint.

I mixed water with the plaster of paris. I had measured the right amount before, but it got thicker faster than I thought, so dad had go down to the stream to get more water to dilute it down with and I had to mix it up fast with a tea spoon to make it smooth and without air bubbles. At the end I tapped the container to make air bubbles come to the surface.

5. Pour it in and leave it

I poured the mixture in and left it. Dad and I went walking down old stream beds and just exploring the wood for about two hours then came back for the casts. It was supposed to dry in one hour but I gave it two to make sure.

6. CAREFULLY take it out

They were VERY delicate so I had to be very careful when he took them out of the ground, and put them CAREFULLY in a box in my rucksack wrapped in kitchen roll, then I took them home and let them dry.

. This is what they looked like when they were out of the ground. I left the mud in for now:

7. Leave to dry for three more days

It took a long time for them to dry, and a week later they were still flakey and delicate so we had to be careful. I used a soft brush to take out most of the mud:

8. Finished !

When they were finished they looked AMAZING!! Well the one on the right does.

To the left are real red deer hooves:

I am really happy that I got some really good plaster casts now but i will definitely know what to do differently next time.  This was my first go at doing plaster casts and it did not go perfectly but I am still very happy and I would do this again. If I could change something it would be maybe bringing more water and making the mixture more quickly so I could pour it before it starts to harden.

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