Best weekend ever!
I’ve just spent a mind blowing couple of days learning about wildlife tracking with the incredibly knowledgeable David Wege at the Apricot Centre near Totnes.
Wildlife tracking brings a whole new dimension to wandering in nature. It enables you to understand not just what you can see around you, but what wildlife also shares the land. Learning how the anatomy of an animal dictates its tracks, how its habits leave paths and signs and what the remains of a creature can tell us about how it was killed was just incredible.
Tracks and poop have always interested me, but understanding who made them, where they came from and why they are there has taken my fascination to a whole new level. Of course I couldn't help but head out across the fields as soon as I got home to see what else I could find. Huge apologies to my mate Polly for dragging her through deer pathways under the scrub, up slippery vertical banks and along some very boggy ditches!
Above: Hazelnut perfectly cracked by a squirrel.
Below: Woodpecker sap harvesting holes. Pheasant tracks. Weasel poop. Squirrel tracks. Thrush nest. Pheasant sternum showing buzzard predation. Badger tracks. Squirrel scent markings.
