Wildlife Tracking Immersion Nov 2024 - Jan 2025 (FULL)

Join certified tracker Sophie Mazowita for an immersion in winter wildlife tracking and mammal ecology. Explore diverse wildlife habitat at field sites throughout the Cold Hollow area, learning wildlife sign in snow and non-snow conditions, and building an understanding of how animals interact with their landscape.

Topics will include:

• clear and obscure print identification
• animal movement, gaits and track patterns
• trailing techniques
• wildlife behavior and natural history
• scat and scent-marking 
• dens, nests, and beds
• feeding sign
• trail camera use
• documenting wildlife sign

This program will open your eyes to signs of animal activity, building pattern recognition and anticipating where to look for wildlife sign. You will orient to the process and practice of wildlife tracking, including a toolkit of resources and techniqes to continue building familiarity with your wild neighbors. 

Program Format: 
The program includes four field sessions in November through January, plus two evening online sessions featuring a presentation plus Q&A, held over Zoom. 

Field Session Dates:
Sundays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

November 10, 2024
December 8, 2024
January 5, 2024
January 26, 2024

Evening Presentation Dates (Zoom):
Wednesdays, 7 to 8:15 p.m.

November 20, 2024
January 15, 2025

Note: Recordings will be provided if you cannot attend the Zoom meetings in real time.  

Program Cost: $275

Financial support may be available. Please inquire at wildlife@coldhollowtocanada.org.

Volunteer Opportunity:
The CHC Tracking Immersion also serves as an introductory training for anyone looking to volunteer with our community wildlife monitoring program. Upon completion of the Tracking Immersion, participants will be invited to join a team and adopt a monitoring site for seasonal tracking visits and wildlife camera checks, to apply your skills towards CHC's conservation efforts and continue learning alongside other trained trackers. 

About the Instructor: 
Sophie Mazowita is a certified Track & Sign Professional and wildlife guide based in Fletcher, Vermont. She started her wildlife tracking journey while working as a park ranger in Algonquin Park, Ontario, then moved to Vermont to complete a Master's degree in the UVM Field Naturalist Program. Since graduation, she has studied tracking intensively with experts in New England, the Pacific Northwest, and South Africa. She initiated the Burlington VT Mammal Tracking Project in 2015 and has taught tracking workshops for dozens of groups including Green Mountain Audubon, North Branch Nature Center, the Vermont Master Naturalist Program, Champlain College and UVM. Currently she offers tracking education and consulting services through her website, Tracking Connection, and also guides week-long wildlife trips to Yellowstone and to Canada's polar bear country with Natural Habitat Adventures/WWF. At home in Vermont, her work focuses on identifying wildlife corridors and monitoring forest connectivity at a town and regional scale, and she manages the community science program for Cold Hollow to Canada.

Questions?
Please reach out by email to sophie@ coldhollowtocanada.org

Registration:
Registration form

Registration is open to residents of the Cold Hollow to Canada region (Richford, Enosburgh, Montgomery, Bakersfield, Fletcher, Waterville and Belvidere) as well as neighboring towns. Please inquire by email if interested in traveling from outside of the region to join us.