Animal Tracking

Yes! We do have black bear at Camp Kirkham. And they do do their business in the woods! Below is a typical August blueberry rich piece of bear excrement.

The folks from Walnut Hill Tracking Center will return again this year. Nick and Valerie Wisniewski will be presenting as they have for 20 years. This program will be held on Friday in two separate sessions. If you can make it up for this it is well worth it and you won’t be disappointed. In 2016 they put on a fascinating program of animal tracking and animal signs. In the 40+ years of Camp Kirkham they showed us things we never knew existed.

About Walnut Hill Tracking Center

The Walnut Hill Tracking Center event for Smell the Pines is worth the effort to get here for. You will be shown signs of animal life you walked past all your life. You will never see the woods the same again.

There will be two sessions in the afternoon. If you can get to camp in time for their second afternoon program it will be worth your while. Walnut Hill Tracking Center has been around for many years. They are something of an association of outdoor experts in various skills from pre-historic tool making, to old growth forests, to animal tracking. They conduct a variety of programs ranging from day trips to weekend camping. These programs are held in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Each of these locations is chosen for the characteristics of geography, animal life, and/or other natural qualities such as trees. You can learn more about Walnut Hill Tracking Center by visiting their website at http://www.walnuthilltracking.com.

Nick and Valerie Wisniewski. Are teachers who spend their summers studying the black bear population of Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Otters in camp?

What you’re looking at there is pure otter scat. It’s doesn’t look like much in the photo but it was pointed out that there were fish scales mixed in.

No, but they do come close and not when we’re around. They do leave their signs behind. Here is some otter scat on the bank of the brook that runs from the beaver pond down through camp to Dodge Pond.

Deer everywhere, Moose too.

More About Walnut Hill Tracking and Nature Center

A pile of deer “pellets”.

Prior to heading off into the woods it was explained to us that this would be an experiential exercise. What that meant was that we would not actually see animals but would see signs of their presence. How these signs are interpreted give insight into their behavior patterns. There’s none better or more qualified than Walnut Hill Tracking to do this.