News

August Texas Parks and Wildlife Evaluations

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 12:43:42 -0700

We just completed 2 Tracker Evaluations for Texas Parks and Wildlife at Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area. This WMA is located in far west Texas near Big Bend National Park and provided some great tracking opportunities. Casey McFarland of New Mexico and George Leoniak of Vermont teamed up with Ciel and myself to put on these evaluations. The days were extremely hot, but the great tracks made it worth the effort. Of the 20 participants, we awarded 12 Level 1 certificates, 2 Level 2 certificates, and 2 Level 3 certiicates. Congratulations to all for the great job.

Click here for pics.

Article Accepted to JWM

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:17:29 -0700

The Journal of Wildlife Management, one of the most well known and respected academic wildlife journals, recently accepted a publication based on my Masters Thesis. The article is titled, “Determining Observer Reliability in Counts of River Otter Tracks” by Jonah Evans, Ciel Evans, Jane Packard, Gary Calkins, and Mark Elbroch. This article will be the first peer-reviewed work on CyberTracker’s Tracker Evaluation and demonstrates the importance of the testing tracking skills of biologists. It is still in the final stages of editing but should be in print soon. This article was a major effort and I thank all the co-authors and everyone else who gave feedback and encouragement. It likely would not have made it to this point without their help.

South American Animal Track Page Added

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 13:22:54 -0700

From January to March 2008, we traveled through Peru, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. Most of these track photos are from the Los Amigos research station in eastern Peru and the Pantanal region of Brazil. South America has some incredible wildlife but very little has been published on animal tracks for the continent. We frequently had to use process of elimination and our knowledge of similar species to identify tracks.

Click here for pics.

Final Colorado Lynx Project Pics

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 11:33:31 -0700

We just finished working for the Colorado Division of Wildlife on a lynx reproduction study on May 15th, 2008. The job primarily consisted of radio tracking female lynx through the Rocky Mountains, camping every night, and hoping for a female to stop moving. This would signify a den, at which point we would hike in to the site to weigh, measure and take blood from the kittens. Unfortunately, there were no dens this year, likely a result of a reduction in the snowshoe hare population. Remarkably, on our very last day on the job we saw our first lynx. It ran across the road right in front of our car not a half mile from our bunkhouse. It was a nice ending for the field season.

Click here for pics.

Photos from June 2008 New England Evals

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:03:25 -0700

George Leoniak and I recently teamed up to co-evaluate 2 evaluations in New England hosted by White Pine Programs. On the first evaluation, we had a total of 21 mammals, 37 species all told. Some memorable tracks include otter, mink, red fox, snapping turtle, hawk scat, and turkey vulture tracks. Congratulations to all for the hard work.

Click here for pics.

Upcoming Texas Parks and Wildlife Evals

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:38:31 -0700

Texas Parks and Wildlife recently scheduled 2 tracker evaluations in west Texas from August 4th-7th. This will be the 8th and 9th tracker evaluations for TPWD to host for their staff. These workshops are closed to the public.

Colorado Lynx Project Pics

Fri, 6 Jun 2008 14:00:05 -0700

We started working for the Colorado Division of Wildlife on a lynx reproduction study on May 15th, 2008. The job primarily consists of radio tracking female lynx through the Rocky Mountains, camping every night, and hoping for a female to stop moving. This would signify a den, at which point we would hike in to the site to weigh, measure and take blood from the kittens. So far there have been no dens, but we’re hopeful. The terrain is beautiful and we’re happy just to be out of the Texas heat.

Click here for pics.

New Evaluations Scheduled in San Diego

Mon, 5 May 2008 17:30:21 -0700

The Western Tracking Institute has recently scheduled 2 new evaluations in San Diego. The dates are October 18-19th and 25-26th. This will be a great opportunity to test and improve your skill in some beautiful desert landscapes.
For more information on tracker evaluations click here.

Contact Barry Martin to secure your spot.
(619) 892-7620
barrymartin@san.rr.com

Levels I, II, and III only.

Colorado Lynx Project

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:22:07 -0700

We recently accepted a job in Colorado working on a lynx project. Our duties will include radio telemetry, determining female denning sites, and monitoring dens. It will be nice to escape the Texas heat for part of the summer. We will be working on the project from May 15th to June 30th. Stay tuned for photos from the project.

Evaluations in San Diego and North Texas

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:03:09 -0700

We just completed our first tracking evaluations, one in San Diego, CA and 2 for Texas Parks and Wildlife in north Texas. Casey McFarland co-evaluated and Ciel Evans provided superb help.
In San Diego, some of the exceptional tracks we saw include: spotted skunk, mountain lion, antelope ground squirrel, and incredible woodrat sign.
At the Gene Howe Wildlife Management Area, in north Texas, we encountered tracks of porcupine, beaver, bobcat, and many more.
At the Matador WMA, also in north Texas, in addition to bobcat, coyote, striped skunk, and several other mammals, we encountered an amazing number of bird tracks including: wild turkey, great-blue heron, green heron, great-horned owl, screech owl, road runner, greater yellowlegs, crow, and several more.
Congratulations to Michael Crouse in San Diego and Jeff Bonner of Texas Parks and Wildlife for achieving their Level III certificates!

Photos of all 3 evaluations can be found here.

South America Trip

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:55:37 -0700

We just returned from a 9-week trip to Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. While there, in addition to seeing some of the amazing sights, we worked on a Jaguar project in the Pantinal region of Brazil and a Short-eared Dog project in the Peruvian Amazon. While in Peru we worked with Renata Pitman on creating a website of Neotropical Animal Tracks. Click below for our blog.

Travel Blog from South America

Certified as an Evaluator in San Diego

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 12:55:23 -0800

Jonah recently received his evaluator certification in the CyberTracker evaluation system from Mark Elbroch in San Diego. He was required to lead an evaluation while being observed and receiving feedback from Mark.
The participants in the San Diego evaluation were a great group for a first evaluation and provided valuable feedback as well. Photos of the evaluation can be found here.
He will be beginning to offer track and sign evaluations in the southwest region when he returns from South America in late March. Stay tuned for updates.

San Diego Tracking Team Data Analysis

Wed, 5 Dec 2007 12:47:02 -0800

We’ve recently signed a contract to work on a data analysis project for the San Diego Tracking Team. The Team has collected 10 years of data using tracks and sign in San Diego County, CA. We are assessing the last 10 years and making recommendations on ways to refine their data collection protocols.

Jonah & Ciel Evaluated in Cuyama

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 12:48:56 -0700

Mark Elbroch recently invited us to take a tracker evaluation in Cuyama, California. We, along with Nate Kempton of Colorado, were asked to identify over 50 very difficult tracks. Questions included pocket gopher tracks, obscure juvenile cottontail tracks, obscure bobcat tracks, and vole tracks. Ciel was awarded Level III for achieving 99% and Jonah was awarded Track and Sign Specialist for achieving 100%.