Los Padres CA Specialist Certification 4/2/2023

On April 1-2, 2023, the Ventura County Wildlife Trackers hosted a Track and Sign Specialist Certification in the Los Padres National Forest in California. At Specialist Certifications, participants have to answer 57 very difficult questions over 2 days. Two evaluators (1 local and 1 external) are present at Specialist Certifications to ensure reliability and consistency. Casey McFarland served as external evaluator. We were also fortunate to have Preston Taylor assisting.

We had an incredibly skilled group of trackers present, all having scored in the very high 90’s before. Some of our favorite finds of the weekend include obscure black bear tracks, mountain lion tracks, and red fox tracks – the first ever record in this area. All told, we saw the tracks of 25 species, including 16 mammals, 4 birds, 3 herps, and marks from ice freezing and a branch blowing in the wind. See the photos below.

We were fortunate to get to enjoy several wonder evenings around the campfire telling stories. Camping during a tracking certification really is a far richer experience and I hope to begin moving towards doing more of these sorts of certifications. It was a great honor and inspiration to see 4 participants earn their Specialist Certification this time! Congratulations to Ann Hunkins, Phil Johnston, Jack Harrison, and Jon Poppele for earning Specialist. This is a monumental achievement and takes years of practice. Congratulations also to the rest of our participants, many of whom came very close.

Huge thanks to Wyatt Harris for organizing.