Los Padres CA Specialist Certification 4/21/2024

On April 20-21, 2024, 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 and Matt Nelson assisting.

Some of our favorite finds of the weekend include tracks of a mountain lion dragging a kill, tracks of deer feeding on minerals in an exposed river bank, and tracks of a large male black bear. All told, we saw the tracks of 29 species, including 18 mammals, 7 birds, 3 herps, and marks from ice freezing. See the photos below.

Congratulations to Wyatt Harris for earning Specialist! He’s worked years to reach this point and we were thrilled for him. Congratulations also to the rest of our participants, many of whom came very close.

Huge thanks to Wyatt Harris for organizing and Bob Ollerton and Alan Shabel for clipboarding.