Wildlife Tracking Immersion January 2025 (NEW)

New! We've added this 2nd Tracking Immersion to our Winter 2025 calendar, taking place on Tuesday afternoons in January.

Register here.

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 how to interpret tracks and sign, 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: 
This program consists of four weekly 4-hour field sessions on Tuesday afternoons in January. You will also be granted access to a couple of hour-long supplementary video tutorials that you can watch on your own time. 

Field Session Dates:
Tuesdays, 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.

January 7, 2025
January 14, 2025
January 21, 2025
January 28, 2025

Program Cost: $195. Reduced rates available. 

Thanks to the support of generous donors, CHC has a dedicated fund to offset the cost of participation in our wildlife tracking trainings and certification programs. If program cost is a barrier to attendance, please submit an application for a reduced program rate. 

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.