This page contains the material submitted to the local paper - The Davis Enterprise - for Explorit Science Center's news column published in that paper on Fridays.

In the movie Raising Arizona, viewers are introduced to the gruff, Harley-riding bad guy known as Leonard Smalls. He’s a manhunter with enormous nostrils, hired to sniff out and capture a missing baby. Now come on, who out there didn’t gasp in humble awe as Smalls followed the babynappers from one scene to the next, reading the evidence like a scholar reading Greek?

As it turns out, the legendary (albeit ill-groomed) tracker himself was a consultant for Explorit Science Center’s latest exhibition, “Solving Mysteries with Science.” Smalls personally oversaw design of the fingerprinting exhibit and the DNA exhibit so that budding manhunters could hone their skills while solving the various crimes and shenanigans reported in the exhibits.

He also contributed background information on the animal tracking exhibit, where young trackers can help figure out what kind of critter has been stealing eggs from farmer Manuel Abor’s chicken coop.

The animal tracking exhibit presents an opportunity for the public to learn a skill which can then be easily applied to everyday life. Where can you look for tracks around here? Muddy areas are good places to start, such as along ditches, creeks, or ponds. A favorite place of mine to look for animal tracks is along Putah Creek at the Restoria restoration site, just west of I-80.

John Gallagher, Explorit’s exhibit assistant, points out that “it’s often difficult to see wildlife because the animals are nocturnal or secretive, so it’s nice to be able to find evidence of their presence as you’re out walking.”

The animal tracking exhibit allows you to study the tracks, scat and natural history of eight wild mammals in order to determine which animal had been visiting Farmer Abor’s coop. Once that mystery is solved, trackers can then thumb through the various tracking books at the exhibit to learn more about the life and habits of the furry culprit, or to look up other animals they may have seen around their own homes.

All right, take a breath; since you’ve read this far in the article, I’ll reward you with a journalistic confession: maybe I fibbed a little about Leonard Smalls doing consulting work at Explorit. But with the new skills you’ll gain by trying out the many hands-on activities at Explorit’s “Solving Mysteries with Science” exhibit, you can check the fingerprints, ink, and other evidence left on the displays and use your newly sharpened skills of inference to determine if Smalls’ grubby hands were ever on any of the exhibits.

------------------------------------------------------