Exploring Nature in Community through a Track & Sign Evaluation

Matt Nelson (kneeling) explains features of red fox tracks.

Last weekend, I explored the woods of Northern Wisconsin with a master teacher and small group of incredibly knowledgeable wildlife & conservation professionals for a Cybertracker Wildife Track & Sign Evaluation. While this event is an evaluation, it is also a masterclass: one of the best ways of learning how to recognize the tracks & sign left by animals around us.

Of the nine participants, many had never taken a Track & Sign evaluation before. All participants except me held various DNR, forestry, wilderness guide, and wildlife management positions within Wisconsin, Indiana, and the Bad River Reservation on Lake Superior. The collective knowledge of nature in this group and their commitment to care for the land was truly stunning.

Matt Nelson, our Evaluator, is an extraordinarily knowledgeable and humble human. In late 2020, after decades of tracking in Northern California, he moved to Teaching Drum Outdoor School in northern Wisconsin. It was a pleasure and delight to be introduced to highlights of his home tracking territory. Over the course of two days, we covered a wide variety of questions, from tracks and scat, to feathers and feeding sign.

As we began, Matt encouraged us: Look at the evidence, and come up with stories that fit your observations. And, if you find new evidence, change your story if it doesn’t fit!

Why participate in a Track & Sign Evaluation?

Badger den. Check out that massive throw!

This was my fourth Track & Sign Evaluation. With each evaluation, I learn more about beings in that landscape, including me: how I see, and the habits I hold. For instance, one of my patterns is to doubt myself if an answer comes too easily, and second guess that first response (which is usually correct). This evaluation, I second-guessed myself out of two correct answers. Another personal pattern is incorrectly gauging track size to distinguish species. This evaluation, I mistook a gray squirrel track for a chipmunk track… again. (Note: Gray squirrel tracks are twice the size of chipmunk!)

On my first evaluation in 2016, I experienced high anxiety and distress about getting questions wrong. This time, I could appreciate both my correct and incorrect answers as they taught me about my knowledge & my process:

If I got a question right, awesome! I could ask more questions to become even more familiar with telling this sign apart from another species.
If I missed a question, awesome! Did I doubt a correct answer, and if so, why? If not, I could become more familiar with that particular animal, and learn how to see them moving through the world.

Noticing my habits in motion shows me my next edges to practice: trusting my observations and knowlege, and getting more familiar with track size.

With each evaluation question, my knowledge and awareness grows…

as does my delight and curiosity about the world around me.

Wow, that’s what a badger den looks like! How can I tell the difference from a black bear’s den, especially with a bear trail just meters away?
I did not realize that long berm in the bog was the remnants of an old beaver dam! How many have I seen and not recognized in the BWCA?
Hey, now I know what pileated woodpecker sign looks like in intact hardwoods! I’m used to seeing a massive messy hole in old punky wood…
That scat in the trail sure looks and smells like black bear scat: segmented, blocky, and packed with seeds and tiny snails. But the quantity seems small for bear. Was a coyote the culprit instead?

At the end of the two day evaluation, we’d covered 56 questions on tracks and sign of 22 species, of mammals, birds, and insects, ranging across mixed coniferous-deciduous woods to pine barrens to muddy pond banks.

: For the upper right track: is this a front or hind? The dewclaws tell the story.

: Two examples of wolf scats – aged on the right, fresher on the left.

: Badger den opening with scale.

: Loaded with berry seeds and tiny snails: is this black bear or coyote scat?

: Whose feather is this? Look closely at the texture.

: Perfect red fox tracks in sand. Note the pinpricks of claws on both front (L) and hind (R).

: Turtle eggshells: all that remains of a predator’s feast.

Learning in Community

Before Matt announced certificates, he offered participants a chance to share a highlight of the weekend. One common highlight was gratitude for the immense knowledge within this group, and how profoundly good and healing it was to be in community with other folks so excited about nature & tracking.

Unsurprisingly, every participant received a certificate: one level I, four level IIs, and four level IIIs.

At the end of the day, I scored a 96%, placing me in Level III. By my count, I missed four questions: the badger dig & den site, an ancient beaver dam, and a red fox track I identified as domestic dog. Three of these were completely new to me, and I’m excited about looking for them on future excursions!

Offering Thanks

As Matt shared: Tracking is about being human. This process is about interpreting and telling stories on the landscape, and honoring our ancestry.

And so I offer gratitude:

To Matt Nelson, and previous evaluators (David, Kersey, Lee, Casey, Nate): Thank you for sharing your knowledge and your way of reading stories on the land.
To fellow participants: Thank you for who you are. I am in awe of your knowledge and commitment to the land and all its inhabitants.
To the Teaching Drum staff: Thank you for your support and hospitality in hosting this evaluation!
To my local Minnesota Tracking Club community: I have learned so much tracking with you all, and I learn more every time we track together. I wouldn’t be here without y’all.

Here’s to all of us, learning and growing together. And here’s to our next opportunity for a Track & Sign Evaluation, over Labor Day Weekend, in the Twin Cities.