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!