Steinbach Online, written by Darci Wilkinson Friday, January 17, 2025
https://steinbachonline.com/articles/learn-about-wildlife-tracking-with-nature-norm
On this month of Adventures with Nature Norm, he talks wildlife tracking.
Norm Gregoire from Shared Legacy is working to connect nature and neighbours and this weekend, he invites the community to learn about one of his passions and hobbies.
“Animal tracking, looking for animal signs, that sort of thing. Just generally looking for wild signs when the wildlife isn’t exactly there and the wintertime is actually, I would say probably the best or easiest at least time to do that.”
He shares that while spotting wildlife is a highlight for nature enthusiasts, it’s rare to see much during outings.
“We’re usually, as humans, pretty loud and noisy and even smelly. Different animals can smell us miles away, so we scare them off. But what is left for long periods of time, sometimes days at a time, is the sign that they left behind.”
During the adventure, he will demonstrate how to interpret the signs animals leave behind. Gregoire mentions that tracks can reveal fascinating stories about an animal’s activities in the area.
“Have they been just passing through? Have they been eating in the area? Have they been marking their territory? Have they been hunting each other because we’ve seen evidence of that. I’ve seen it many many times while tracking wildlife, every track tells the story. And it’s all just very interesting to learn the details of the story.”
The trip will start at the Agassiz Interpretive Trail and Gregoire will be providing snowshoes, free of charge.
“That might be a new event for some folks. Just with the amount of snow that we have right now, it might be easier to travel.”
He requests that any youth planning to attend contact him beforehand as he has limited pairs of youth sizes.
He adds, “If there are folks that aren’t interested in snowshoeing, then I would just have them towards the end of the group to make the walking a little bit easier. We’re going to be taking our time, going through the snow, and I can’t guarantee what we’re going to actually see because we could have a bunch of snow.”
The snow may cover up tracks or any noticeable signs of wildlife, but Gregoire finds it more enjoyable because it encourages a closer and more detailed search for clues.
“You have to look more so into trees and everywhere else.”
He notes that participants will likely recognize tracks from common animals like deer. On the walk, he will go into further detail about what the tracks mean.
“Spend some time with me and we’ll learn a little bit about potentially, is it a female? Is it a male? What size is it? These sorts of things. So, I’m eager to share all this knowledge that I’ve built up over the years.”
He will also delve into the different sign’s wildlife leaves behind, other than tracks.
“One of my personal favourites is the scat, the droppings that animal leaves behind and I know a lot of people love it when we get down and close to see scat and we get to look through and see what animal potentially left it behind and maybe what animal was eating what animals. Was it a carnivore or a meat eater? It’s all really interesting stuff.”
Join Nature Norm at the Agassiz Interpretive Trail, 7 kilometers west of Vita on highway 201 from 10 am to 12 pm.
To register or for more information, contact Gregoire at 204-408-6166 or info@sharedlegacymb.ca.