Most wild animals hide from us, living their lives in secret behind foliage and in the night. However, they leave evidence of their presence behind in the forms of tracks, trails, and other sign. A covering of snow reveals this abundance of life around us in the winter woods. Join The Ware River Nature Club and East Quabbin Land Trust on Saturday, January 23 from 11 – 4:45 to learn more about the signs of wildlife and what those signs tell us. This snow-tracking outdoor program will acquaint participants with the process of finding, identifying, and interpreting wildlife sign in a local natural area.
The walk will be led by well-known tracker-naturalist David Brown, whose experience finding and interpreting New England wildlife spans nearly three decades. He is the author of Trackards for North American Mammals and The Companion Guide to Trackards, and his newest book The Next Step: Interpreting Animal Tracks, Trails and Sign has just been released. It complements his first two books in that it deals mostly with two neglected aspects of wildlife tracking: finding animal sign in the first place and then interpreting what you have identified for behavior.
Meet at the East Quabbin Land Trust office at 120 Ridge Road in Hardwick for David’s introduction to the art of tracking. Slides and casts of animal evidence will be discussed, with emphasis on distinguishing what made those tracks we see in the snow. Hot drinks and cookies will be provided.
Bring a bag lunch to charge up for the afternoon walk which will begin at 12:30pm. Later in the afternoon we will return to the office to warm up, review what we saw outdoors, and share another hot drink by the warm fire. David will have his publications for sale.
Voluntary donations are accepted and will cover the speaker’s travel fee.
