Before Class: Please arrive early in order to complete any registration information, view recommended books, and answer questions. It is super important that you receive some fundamental animal tracking information that will be presented at the very start of class. Like no other subject we teach, the tracking class builds upon itself minute by minute, so if you end up coming late, it might be a little frustrating to understand what's happening, especially since we can't really back up and take away time from those who started early, but do come anyway, because we will heartily welcome you, and during the second hour, we hope to come across some exciting "finds" along muddy areas.
15 Minutes - Animal Families: We will start the first hour promptly with a 5 minute overview on the Arts of Tracking in order to establish common goals and vocabulary which will be important when we go out later to search for tracks and other signs of animals. We will continue with a 10 minute lecture on the characteristics of representatives of all the mammal families present between our mountains and the sea. You can get a jump-start on this information by checking out Wolf Journey Book III.
15 Minutes - Animal Forms: Super important to tracking, but something that takes a bit of childlike bravery, we will choose some brave volunteers to demonstrate "animal forms" which are the way animals move, as this is a critical skill necessary to really understand how tracks get laid on the ground. In preparation for tracking in the second hours, we will practice using "wide angle vision" like owls do, plus "expanded hearing" like deer use to decipher whether sounds they hear in the forest are predators or friendlies, and the "stealth walk" like foxes teach us in order to move undetected in nature so we see more animals and experience their behavior as if we weren't there. We can even play a game called Cougar, Fox & Hare which is easy and fun, but brings you into a state of hyper awareness in nature. We like to say that if you bring home just one set of skills from tonight's class, that these awareness activities are it. They will help you see more wildlife, and keep you safer, in city and wilderness, than any other set of knowledge.
15 Minutes - Bird Tracks: Next, we will discuss bird tracks since we are likely to also find sign of Great Blue Heron, Canada Goose, various raptors, gulls and smaller shore birds along muddy areas. We will also have a fascinating lesson on scatology in hopes of dissecting scat, owl pellets, and other droppings we come across in the second hour of class.
30 Minutes - Solving Track Mysteries: Tracking is really being an animal detective. You will choose a dectective team to work with in order to solve a tracking mystery. Second only to increasing your awareness through the "animal form" skills we learned in the previous 15 minutes, it is the ability to ask the right questions, and recognize evidence for what it is, that will help you track animals in the wild. Before class, Kim & Chris will have arranged a "tracking scenario" consisting of track "cut-outs" that your tracking team will study, discuss, and then report back to the larger group what you think happened in the scenario. This is a great way to solidify your understanding of track identification, plus educated interpretation of what animals are doing, when you come across tracks on tide flats, beaches, muddy fields, river sand bars, snowy landscapes, and other classic tracking areas.
30 Minutes - Tracking Anywhere: Of course, we want to get to the point where we can track anyplace, not just in those isolated places where tracks stand out in sand, snow, or mud. So, for the second half of class, we will explore the area and to discuss live "sign" of all kinds. In order to help you open to a world of evidence that animals leave everywhere they move, we'll look for and discuss scrapes, lays, burrows, latrines, larders, nests, partial tracks, pressure releases, vegetative cuttings, and everything else we can find - even the condition of feathers to determine exactly how or if a bird might have been killed or injured.
15 Minutes - Trailing Animals: You also have to be able to trail animals if you want to find them, so now that your eyes are adjusted to seeing sign, we're going to train you in the kind of trailing that real animal trackers use, keeping your head up and walking fast!
After class: Feel free to stay to ask questions about anything we talked about today, sign we say today and any other tracking-related information you're curious about. Email or Call us at any time with any questions and requests.
Tracking after dark? Definitely! Bring a hand-held flashlight, because it is easier to see tracks at night due to your ability to control the light angle. Tracks will really seem to pop out at you
