Catching a Tracktail Lizard in Monster Hunter Wilds is potentially the first sidequest you'll get in the game. A researcher in the Windward Plains Base Camp called Dareel will ask for your help capturing some of the Forbidden Lands' unique endemic life, which is to say, those creatures wandering each region that you don't murder for materials.
The Dareel's Research Report quest tasks you with locating a Tracktail Lizard and trying out your fancy capture net to acquire one. Unlike some of the later specimens you'll have to catch, the Tracktail Lizard is relatively easy going. Here I'll explain where to find one, plus how to use the capture net in case this is your first time.
Monster Hunter Wilds Tracktail Lizard location
The best place to find a Tracktail Lizard is in area 11 of the Windward Plains, close to where the rocks meet the sand dunes. You might remember this area as one of the Balahara's potential arenas, with some rocky pillars that it climbs, on which you can find Wedge Beetles. You'll spot a pair of the lizards crawling across the sand close by. If you have no luck there, you can also try area 13 near the oasis, or more generally in the nearby sand dunes.
Tracktail Lizards are pretty easy to recognise—they're basically your standard lizard with a really long tail, which they prop themselves up on like a meerkat if you spook them. If you get too close they'll also run away and burrow into the sand to escape. Equip your capture net in the top right of the essential item hotwheel by holding left bumper on controller and using right stick to select it.
You'll likely want to sneak so as not to scare them off, so press A or X on controller. Now hold LT to aim as you would with your Hook Slinger and approach. When the border of the aiming box turns orange press RT to fire the net and catch the lizard. After this, you can head back to Dareel to deliver the specimen.
For your trouble, the researcher will give you ten honey and you'll get 50 Guild Points for completing the task. Not the most lucrative quest, but hey, it's a few extra Mega Potions at least.
