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| Eastern Grey Wolf |
Although I've been tracking animals for
as long as I can remember, it's usually been as a side interest to
whatever other outdoor excursion I'm on- hunting, cross country
skiing, mountain biking or snowshoeing. Grooming ski trails late at
night always offers great opportunities as well and sometimes the
hours last a little longer if I'm distracted by minutes old fresh
animal sign. If anything, those days now feel like the minor
leagues-I knew tracks pretty well, but after completing tracking
certification and becoming a Volunteer DNR tracker earlier this year,
it's more like I graduated to the big show. Now, I need to be very
precise, I need to verify, look for evidence and confirm what I'm
seeing in the snow and keep detailed records....yeah, this is a new
ball game.
This past weekend TWIN (Timber Wolf
Education Network) held their annual “Track-A-Thon” in the
central forest region of Wisconsin-the southern end of wolf territory
in the state. Headquartering out of the Sandhill Wildlife Area near
Babcock, TWIN members meet, were given assignments on tracking areas,
discussed recent sign and headed out to spend a day surveying their
blocks. TWIN focuses on science-based wolf education and provides
outreach through wolf ecology workshops each winter. Most members
are also involved with the Wisconsin DNR volunteer carnivore tracking
program and results from the Track-A-Thon were forwarded to that
effort.
The WDNR runs the most extensive
tracking surveys in the country, starting in 1977 for fur bearing
animals. Wolf tracking began formally in 1979 and the current
volunteer program of conducting wolf and carnivore surveys started in
1995. The intention of the study, in addition to determining numbers
and territories of wolves, is also to keep tabs on other medium to
large carnivores and determine if rare species like Canada lynx,
wolverine or cougar also exist in the state.
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| Bob Cat |
Participants are asked to complete a
track training course, attend a wolf ecology class sponsored by the
DNR, Timber Wolf Alliance or TWIN, complete a mammal test and conduct
a minimum of three surveys submitting their results per guidelines to
the DNR.
Being new to the group, I was eager to
meet and learn as much as possible during this day long event.
Sandhill is about 30 miles east of my usual tracking area, so I
decided to start my survey on some unexplored forest roads nearer
that side of my block. I'd been tutored on using some high tech
gear-an external GPS unit, which blue tooth connects to my ipad
loaded with various off-line maps. The DNR tracking surveys follow
specific protocol and one needs to carefully record the survey route
and milage. I found the technology on the dash of the truck
advantageous, and if needed, I could flip through different charts on
the ipad, looking at everything from topo maps to satellite imagery.
Track locations could be added with waypoints and details typed in on
the fly. That said, there is also room for the old school methods.
Hand written notes on every track observed were scribbled with pencil
in a notebook and old fashioned folding wood rulers did the
measuring. I do carry a digital camera as well and police evidence
scales (rulers) to grab images of particularly interesting tracks or
sign.
The track-a-thon was lucky enough to
fall about 36 hours after the last snowfall-prime time to get good
tracks. Windy conditions the previous day also helped in
aging-aiding trackers in determining how recently animals passed by.
If roads hadn't been plowed, then it's a much easier task to spot
sign. More traveled routes, require an even slower survey speed.
My average pace was under 8 mph for the five and half hours in the
field. All larger carnivores are recorded-every coyote, bobcat,
fisher and wolf track is noted, located on a map and direction of
travel indicated.
Coyotes are ever more present and
jumping in and out of the truck to check their prints and document
them is quite a task. It's when there is something different
about a track, the size, the gait pattern, how the snow is scuffed,
that makes tracking exciting and I'm quick to exit the warm cab.
Deer prints are pretty easy to spot and dismiss-they wander, have a
wide straddle and leave a collar of snow around their steps.
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| Bob Cat |
My first 2 miles seemed to take
forever-frequent coyotes criss-crossing the road and plenty of deer
sign kept the pace slow. Hitting a forest road with all fresh snow
and no other vehicle traffic was divine for surveying. Within
another mile, a tell-tale large, consistent and widely spaced
imprint suggested a wolf. Excitedly jumping out of the truck, my
thoughts were confirmed-perfect 4.5” canid track-an Eastern Grey
Wolf. Although we are recording all carnivores, wolves are what we
most want to keep tabs on, so this was a great find so early in my
survey. Following the trail into the woods off road, there was good
reason why “he” was here-whitetails had the whole area tore up
feeding on acorns-good habitat for both animals. The wolf continued
for some distance, seemingly having places to get to south of my
position, so I continued checking roads and dead end flowage trails
for more sign.
Another hour passed and I hit the
trackers mother-load (well, we do get excited about finding different
species!)- A wolf, also traveling south, a large bobcat and just a ¼
mile down the same lane, a Fisher, bounding down the road before
veering off to bop from tree to tree. It's interesting that the snow
covered roads can be a blank slate for miles and all of a sudden, you
collect a bunch of tracks all at once.
Slow miles continued for another hour
on pristine drifted roads until spotting a day old track. The wolf
had followed a logging road and I back tracked it for a mile to the
point it entered from a large marsh. Another fresh track had crossed
this, so I had plenty of information to record and GPS. Soon, things
became crazy-several sets of tracks crossed the road different
directions and I needed to investigate further into the woods to
figure out where they came from. One group of three seemed to have
found something interesting under a brush pile-the tracks had the
ground pounded smooth, but there was no other sign. A bit further, a
pair of tracks traversed the lane in an opposite direction and left
behind a RLU (raised leg urination)-a good indication this was a
alpha animal in the pack. Scribbling notes and drawing arrows on
maps, all the sign seemed to point at just a few animals that were
going back and forth in a small area. In any regard, it was fun and
challenging to decipher all clues left on this short section of road.
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| Wiley E. Coyote |
Sometimes it's a matter of feast or
famine. As interesting as that flurry was, the next 2 hours passed
with only a couple coyote prints, a ton of deer sign and another
bobcat trail to keep me busy. My truck slithered down more narrow
rutted paths, but for the most part, the snow was undisturbed for the
final two hours.
Volunteer trackers are asked to travel
20-30 miles each outing, so with 26.5 recorded and completing a loop
in the state and county forest, I ended the survey. From here it was
a long drive back to Sandhill where we would tabulate results and do
a post survey debriefing, along with just visiting and finding out
what the other participants discovered. Most of the TWIN members
have many years experience under their belts and had a good handle on
what we'd find. On the wolf tally, some individuals and packs were
located where expected, while others seem to have disappeared,
fueling discussion within the group for possible causes.
Later in the evening Retired wolf
biologist Dick Thiel and Ray Leonard, TWIN chairperson, lead a
discussion on the recent re-listing of the eastern grey wolf to the
endangered species list. The day was a great opportunity to make
connections with other TWIN members, practice the craft of tracking
and spend a day outdoors in the winter, always a good thing and
something I'll look forward to again.
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