Here are two great outdoor opportunities to learn more about the animals who live in the forests, fields, and wetlands around us.  One is an all-day hike to see how animals prepare for winter and the other invites you to join the next Keeping Track training program.  Here are the details and attached are flyers describing both programs:
 
How Wildlife Prepare for Winter - Saturday, December 10th, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Please join a hike led by Naturalist Alcott Smith in the natural lands around Essex and discover how wildlife prepares for cold weather.  Champlain Area Trails is partnering with Northeast Wilderness Trust (NWT) to host the hike as part of the “Get Wild and Connected” Outdoor Education Series.
 
Rose Graves, the Conservation Director for NWT said, “This will be a great opportunity to explore how animals use habitats in shifting seasons.  We’ll see how species in the Champlain Valley cope with the cooling weather and talk about how local wild lands connect habitat for wildlife and nature.”
 
Dr. Alcott Smith, a veterinarian and field naturalist, is an outstanding outdoor educator who teaches a wide variety of ecology programs including “Reading  the Natural Landscape,” “Finding and Interpreting  Signs of Wildlife,” “Understanding Bears and Bobcats,” and “The Ecology of Timber Rattlesnakes.”
 
Space for this event is limited; Plan to spend the day hiking off-trail so bring lunch, layers, and good hiking shoes.  Suggested donation is $10-20; Pre-register by contacting Northeast Wilderness Trust  - send an email to rose@newildernesstrust.org, call 802-453-7880, or go to the website www.newildernesstrust.org.
 
Beginning in January - Keeping Track Wildlife Tracking Course
Sign up for a Keeping Track training program and participate in research and monitoring of wildlife in the eastern Adirondacks.  The training program, taught by renowned wildlife expert Susan Morse of Keeping Track and sponsored by Northeast Wilderness Trust, will focus on finding and interpreting wildlife signs.  The data you collect will increase knowledge of habitats and landscape linkages connecting the Adirondack Park across the Champlain Valley to the Green Mountains.
 
The Keeping Track wildlife monitoring training will be held during six full-day field programs and two evening classes over the course of the year. The first class is scheduled for January 7th.  You will need to register for the program; tuition is $525 and scholarship money is available so feel free to ask about it.
 
To register or get more information about the Keeping Track Training Program, contact Elizabeth Lee at lakeside5047@gmail.com or www.newildernsstrust.org.
 
I hope you have the opportunity to participate in these and other upcoming programs.
 
♫♫ Happy Trails ♫♫