Central Texas Certification 6/28/2015

The Earth Native Wilderness School hosted a Track and Sign Certification in Austin, Texas on June 27 – June 28, 2015.

We saw the tracks of 30 species, including 14 mammals, 5 birds, 1 herp, 9 invertebrates, and one plant (tree sap). The tracking conditions were quite good due to recent rains and we had lots of great mud. One of my favorite track from the weekend was the shell print from an armadillo rolling in the mud. Really fun to see. We also found what could only be the latrine of a swamp rabbit. They create unique piles of scat on fallen logs and while the one we found was small, I’ve never seen a regular eastern cottontail do this.

Congratulations to all who attended. I especially want to recognize Chris Hyde for earning his Level 4 certificate.  I also want to recognize the great work of the students from Earth Native’s 8-Month Wildlife Tracking Intensive. Thanks to Dave Scott for hosting the eval and Lee Burton for helping out.