Five people knelt on the frozen banks of the Minnesota River peering closely at a curving trail of animal tracks. The mission? To determine the animal that left these prints, which paw — right, left, front or back — and whether the tracks were those of one animal or several. Measurements were taken, toes counted. The group noted shapes and relationships and looked for claws, and compared a crumbling imprint ahead of it with the illustration in the field guide. Was that a fifth toe or an incidental dent in the mud? Are skunks out and about in March? Do fishers even live in this part of Minnesota? Would you call that a chevron shape or an oval that caved in?
"It's OK to have more questions than answers," Jon Poppele said. "In fact, if you've got all the answers, that's a problem."
Questions are the heart of the Minnesota Wildlife Tracking Project, a group Poppele co-founded in October 2013 as a way for people to connect with nature through the ancient art of track and sign.
"The tracking project grew out of my graduate research in conservation biology," he said. "It was never this grand vision; my friend Marty Miller and I thought it would be a fun way to get outside with our friends. We picked a day, invited everyone we knew to meet at Fort Snelling [State Park], 15 people showed up, and we've been going ever since."
The tracking project has a website with a calendar of monthly meet-ups and a Facebook page where impromptu outings and related events are announced. Anyone can show up — there's no cost, no commitment and no special requirements, though a certain amount of mobility is necessary to tramp around off-trail. There's also no roster of attendees, though Poppele said between 12 and 20 people show up regularly at the Fort Snelling visitor center for monthly "dirt time" and, on alternating weekends, for an auditory lesson in bird language.
Armed with walking sticks, field guides, cameras, smartphones, rulers, painted Popsicle sticks (to help visualize the track-leaver's gait), and a motley mix of winter gear, a group of 12 on a recent meet-up split into two. "Let's go look at some poop!" set the tone for a fire hose of lighthearted learning, mind-boggling in scope and specificity.
For example:
• Antlers remove tree bark with an up-and-down motion, but deer eat bark with only an upward scrape because they have only lower incisors.