Tracking & Nature Center | Walnut Hill Tracking & Nature Center |
| Programs - Winter 2009 |
| “We all have an innate need – a relationship with the natural world.” - Alcott Smith |
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Full Moon Snowshoe | ||
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Saturday, January 10, 2009, 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm |
Enjoy an enchanting night time trip illuminated by light of the rising “Wolf Moon.” We may see signs of flying squirrels or the tracks of foxes, hear the howls of coyotes or the hoots of owls. Shimmering drifts of snow, wind whispering through pine trees, ice-laden cliffs reflecting light of the moon, amazing shapes of ancient tree trunks emerging from the dark - all combine to inspire the imagination. Bring the family, or treat your loved one to a memorable evening. We will provide the hot cocoa and homemade cookies to warm you up afterwards! Dress warmly and bring snowshoes (we have a few pairs available for a modest fee). If there is a lack of snow we will hike to partake of winter’s moonlit magic, so wear extremely warm boots. This program will meet in Petersham, Massachusetts. | |
with Nick & Valerie Wisniewski |
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| Limit: 15 Fee: Adults, $15, Children $5 | ||
Introduction to TrackingHalf-day "Family Program" | ||
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Saturday, January 17, 2009, 1 pm to 4 pm |
Experience the excitement of tracking animals in the winter! Most mammals remain active throughout the cold-weather months; knowing how and where to look, we can find evidence of their daily lives and the struggle for survival in the forest. Join us as we enjoy the beauty and solitude of Quabbin, which Thomas Conuel dubbed “The Accidental Wilderness.” This program has been designed to accommodate our students who are parents and wish to introduce their children to the fascinating world of finding and interpreting animal tracks and sign. Adults as well as adults with children are welcome on this short introduction to tracking. No tracking experience is required. Hiking will be easy, and the program will be held with or without snow cover. Snowshoes will be required if there is deep snow. Please note that all children must be accompanied by an adult. Nick and Valerie are both school teachers, and have many years of experience teaching adults and children. This program will open your eyes to the web of life around us, revealed by animal tracks in the snow! | |
with Nick & Valerie Wisniewski |
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| Limit: 15 Fee: $25 per person | ||
Tracking: Relearning an Ancient Art | ||
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Saturday, January 24 2009 10 am - 3 pm |
Learning to understand how the forest “speaks” can help you enjoy a greater intimacy with nature. Join us for a day-long excursion in the wintry forest as we search for tracks and other telltale signs left behind by the animals. Unravelling the clues that animals leave behind can enhance your enjoyment of the out-of-doors, and lead to an appreciation of the enormous beauty and complexity of the web of life surrounding us. Whether you’re one of the people who has taken classes with us or are new to our programs, this is the best class for overall exposure to different types of track and sign. As a couple teaching together, Nick and Valerie bring a unique perspective to the world of tracking. Through their passion for nature they have introduced many people to the fascinating world of animal tracks and sign. They teach this course using the methods taught them by their teacher and mentor, Paul Rezendes, who began offering this course in 1989. Hiking will be light to moderate, with most of it off-trail. (Snowshoes may be required if snow is deep; we have several pairs available to rentr for a modest fee). Note: this class is a prerequisite for the Advanced Tracking class we offer. The program will meet in Western Massachusetts near New Salem and the Quabbin. | |
with Nick and Valerie Wisniewski |
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| Limit: 12 Fee:$50/person | ||
Southern New England Predators | ||
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Saturday, January 31, 2009 10 am - 3:30 pm |
Today we’ll leave the paths behind and embark on a backwoods bushwhacking adventure, looking for the tracks and sign of mammals such as the gray fox, red fox, eastern coyote, bobcat, or fisher. Once on the trail of a predator, we will spend the day immersed in its world, learning about its interactions with its prey, other predators, and others of its own species. Hiking will be moderate to strenuous, and snowshoes will be needed if snow is deep. Participants must be in good physical condition. This program will meet in New Salem, Massachusetts. | |
with Nick and Valerie Wisniewski |
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| Limit: 10 Fee:$50/person | ||
Bobcats in Southwest Vermont | ||
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Sunday, February 1, 2009 10 am - 5 pm |
One of the premier naturalists in the Northeast, Dr. Alcott Smith will lead this adventure into the wilds of “deep-south” Vermont in search of Bobcat track and sign. Always informative and eloquent, Alcott will share his knowledge and insights into the life of New England’s most common resident wildcat. Alcott has a passion and reverence for the indigenous animals of northern New England, and his programs bring to life an animal’s vital relationship with its habitat. Alcott is well-respected and admired by wildlife biologists and expert animal trackers, and his depth and breadth of knowledge is truly encyclopedic. Bobcats have been a special passion for Alcott, and this trip will take you into an area where he has followed the lives of these fascintating animals for many years. Hiking will be in very rough and wild terrain where there are no trails, so be prepared for a challenging, strenuous and physically demanding day. Snowshoes will be required. This full day of immersion in the winter world will be an experience you will not forget. | Important: Participants MUST be in excellent physical condition. |
with Alcott Smith |
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This program will meet at Fairhaven, Vermont (three-and-a-half hours from Boston, 2 hr 45 min from Springfield, Mass.) |
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| Limit: 14 Fee:$50/person | ||
Tracking Fisher | ||
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Saturday, February 7, 2009 10 am - 3:30 pm |
The fisher is our largest member of the weasel family. Having been extirpated by the fur trade many years ago, it has made a comeback to this area in recent years. After this long absence, it has filled a niche as one of the top carnivores in the forest. Fast and strong, the fisher is an efficient and tenacious predator, seemingly as at home in trees as on the ground. John McCarter, one of the northeast’s leading trackers, will lead this exploration of the fisher’s world as its trail winds through the nooks and crannies of our wild areas. As you learn about the fisher you will come to admire and respect this misunderstood and often unfairly-reviled forest dweller. The class will be held in north central Massachusetts, an hour-and-a-half from the Boston area. | Hiking will be moderate to strenuous, mostly off-trail and with some bushwhacking, so participants must be in good physical condition. |
with John McCarter |
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| Limit: 12 Fee:$50/person | ||
Quabbin Bobcats | |||
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Sunday, February 8, 2009 10 am - 3:30 pm |
Join John McCarter in an adventure exploring the world of one of his favorite animals, Lynx rufus! Bobcats shy away from human habitation, often choosing remote territories that are difficult to reach. A close “cousin” of the Lynx, and in many behaviors similar to larger cats such as the Puma, the Bobcat is like a hidden ghost of the forest. In addition to tracks, we’ll be on the lookout for signs of lays, scent posts, scat and other clues left by this elusive, secretive and fascinating feline. Come along as John shares his extensive and deep knowledge of the ways of the Bobcat. | John McCarter is one the most knowledgeable and respected tracking experts in the Northeast. He was senior staff instructor for Paul Rezendes Tracking And Nature Programs, and made the find of a lifetime when he discovered the remains of a cache and scat near the Quabbin Reservoir in 1997, the only uncontested proof of the existence of Mountain Lion in New England. | This course will be held at the Quabbin in north-central Massachusetts, an hour-and-a-half drive from the Boston area. Hiking will be moderate to strenuous, mostly off-trail and with some bushwhacking, so participants must be in good physical condition. |
with John McCarter |
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| Limit: 12 Fee:$50/person | |||
Winter Four-day Tracking Intensive | ||
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Saturday, February 14, 2009, at 10 am, through Tuesday, February 17, 4 pm |
This program includes 4 days and 3 evening sessions. The small group size will allow us to move easily through the forest and cover more territory than on most programs. The small group size will also insure individual attention and will enable all students to fully participate in interpreting the clues of animal life that we encounter. Each day we will track in a different location, paying special attention to track patterns, reconstructing animal behavior, exploring subtleties of animal track and sign, and taking all the time necessary to investigate questions that arise. Evenings will be spent viewing 35-mm slides and digital images of animal track and sign, studying animal skulls, bones, and other materials, and further exploring questions that came up during the day’s outing. The program will start on Saturday morning, and end late Tuesday afternoon. | Days will be long, and hiking will be moderately strenuous, mostly off-trail and with some bushwhacking, so participants must be in good physical condition. Previous tracking experience is a plus, but is not necessary. |
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On one of the days of the program, we will be joined by special guest Paul Rezendes, author of "Tracking & The Art Of Seeing." This is a rare opportunity to spend a day outdoors with one of the legends of animal tracking in North America. | |
with Nick & Valerie Wisniewski and special guest, Paul Rezendes |
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| Limited to 10 participants - $350. Lodging for three nights with breakfast will be available for an additional fee at Walnut Hill for the first three registrants - contact us for lodging details. | ||
To register for a class, please go here:Registration
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| Walnut Hill Tracking & Nature Center |
| Nick Wisniewski and Valerie Major, co-founders |
| Valerie Major began her life-long study of nature accompanying her father in the forests of Arkansas. She continued her training as a fifteen-year student and three-year apprentice with Paul Rezendes. She has taught outdoor skills to youth and adults for twenty-five years. Valerie keeps a link with her native heritage as a board member and teacher at the Eastern American Indian Cultural Center. Valerie encourages the spirit of inquiry and exploration through her primitive, experiential, teaching method. |
| Nick Wisniewski is an expert on animal tracks and sign. He was a long-term student and three-year apprentice of master tracker Paul Rezendes, with whom he maintains close personal ties. His on-going tracking projects include animal surveys for wildlife sanctuaries, and a multi-year effort to document Mountain Lion track and sign in southern New England. A life-long naturalist, he became fascinated by tracking in 1984 after encountering fresh Wolf scat and tracks while on an extended solo trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area in Minnesota. His passion is using animal tracking as a unifying method for nature study and exploration. |
| Our goal is to share the excitement and wonder we experience in the natural world. The curriculum is designed to provide students with opportunities for exploration. Our guest instructors are highly qualified, well-respected experts in their fields. They bring a wide variety of skills and knowledge to our programs. |
| Special Guest Teachers |
| John McCarter was the senior staff instructor for Paul Rezendes Nature Programs, and has taught for many organizations throughout New England. He has been tracking wildlife for more than twenty years and is among the region's leading authorities on animal tracks and sign. John made the discovery of a lifetime when he found a Mountain Lion scat in the Quabbin Reservoir reservation in 1997, which has been dna-verified by two independent labs. |
| Bob Leverett is the East's premier interpreter of old growth forests and is credited with discovering many of the previously unrecognized ancient sites here in the northeast. Bob's expertise is unparalled and his opinion is highly sought by professional forest experts, conservation organizations, and the general public. His encyclopedic knowledge of trees and the forest is matched only by his infectious enthusiasm. He has discovered many places of majestic beauty in his search for "the monarchs of the forest." |
| Alcott Smith is an ecologist of the highest caliber and conducts research and leads field trips for many conservation organizations in New England. From his childhood he has maintained a lifelong commitment and unwavering allegiance to the indigenous fauna of northern New England. Beyond an active role in the perpetuity of endangered species, he revels in sharing his passion with others and excels in his ability to bring to life the relationship between our wild fauna and its habitat. |
| Kent Hicks uses his tracking skills to assist local and state authorities and search and rescue teams in locating lost and missing persons. He has trained Royal Canadian Mounted Police, FBI agents and other law enforcement personnel. Kent's tracking knowledge of humans and animals is unexcelled. An "un-sung" talent, he is considered by many trackers to be the region's leading expert on aging of tracks and sign. |
| Rob Leverett is a recognized expert in "primitive" tool making. Of Cherokee-Choctaw ancestry, he has taught many classes in schools throughout New England, as well as at Native American events. Rob possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of American indigenous people and their cultures and history. He has amazing skill in working with natural materials, and the objects he produces are literally beautiful works of art. He is an inspiring teacher, and his enthusiasm is contagious. |
| Bob Tremblay has been working as a professional outdoor guide since 1982, and has a B.A. and M.A. in Outdoor Adventure Education and Leadership. During his 20 years as an outdoor leader he has guided thousands of people on diverse outdoor adventures including backpacking, canoeing, kayaking, rock and ice climbing, and dog sledding. Bob loves to share his passion for the outdoors with others. |
| John Green is a reknowned naturalist and professional photographer. He has lived in Western Massachusetts for over thirty years and travels widely exploring and documenting nature with his awe-inspiring photography. We are honored to have him join our teaching staff! |
| Walnut Hill Tracking & Nature Center | |
| 325 Walnut Hill Rd, Orange MA 01364 | Phone: 978-544-6083 |
| E-mail: walnuthilltracking@verizon.net |