This blog is all about how tracking changed my outlook on animal encounters and gave me a greater connection to the animal.
Tracking.. What is Tracking?
By definition, to track something is to follow the trail or movements of someone or something, typically in order to find them or note their course.
Simple enough right?
It's one thing going and seeing wild animals with your own eyes, but there is something more rewarding in knowing the story and behaviour behind the animal via its tracks & signs.
I recently attended the Game Ranger Tracking experience expedition in South Africa that Woodland Ways run, this being my first expedition as an apprentice. The two previous times I've dipped my toe in the very deep waters of tracking was once on an expedition in Kenya while Jason tracked hyena to their den and an intro course that Jason took in the UK. On both of these experiences, to my novice eyes, tracking seemed to me just that, seeing a mark in the ground and going “an animal has been here”. Oh how naive…
Moholoholo during the CyberTracking assessment
I’ll be the first to admit that when I arrived in South Africa, I really didn't know a vast majority of the fauna (animals) that resided there. Sure, I have probably seen the animals before on YouTube or nature programs, but I certainly didn't know the difference between a Genet and a Civet or that Eland even existed!
Initially I found that to my detriment. I was finding it hard to imagine what an animal looked like let alone knowing what “direct registering” was or what ungulates meant.
But as the days progressed I realised I was inquisitive to learn the animal from the tracks upward, I saw it as a game of reveal. Like painting a picture of the animal from the ground up.
Studying the tracks
And not only physical tracks that the animals left, but signs that they were there, Horning (animals with horns rubbing against trees and bushes), Mud rubbings, scat and feeding activity. Even down to small insect signs like Frass (solid waste from small insects) and opened Marula seeds that only squirrels can access the seed pods. It quickly became apparent to me there was so much more to understanding the art of tracking than I first thought, which very quickly had me submerged in the deep waters of tracking.
Frass
The trip was split into parts of game drives (to view the animals from the truck), Bush walks (walking in the bush to view things) and tracking. I realised about half way into the trip that you don't actually get to see a great deal of wild animals quite like you'd expect to see. When watching a nature documentary for instance, there are usually months to sometimes years worth of footage, all compiled into one, so you get to see quite a lot of the animal and its behaviours. Whereas when you're there in the flesh looking for these animals, you might only get brief, but magical, encounters, sometimes only lasting seconds.
Rhino tracks
I later realised over the course of the trip that I started to include tracks and signs as part of an animal encounter and not just “an animal has been here”. It started to seem more magical as we were taught to paint a picture, and read the story the tracks & signs were telling us, from behavior and predictability. For instance while tracking rhino with Colin Patrick and Jaques, we came across the tracks and found the direction of travel leading to a watering hole so we could predict that area would be where it's heading, in turn making you start to think more like the rhino and its behaviour.
Rhino Tracks
Porcupine tracks were everywhere but I didn't physically get to see a porcupine, but after finding quills, tracks and feeding habits I feel I have the reward of knowing the animal a little bit more than seeing it for a brief moment as it carries on about its day.
Part of tracking that I seriously underlooked was the senses you previously tend to overlook in a busy and overstimulated world, like smell & sound. I often felt guilty of not giving one thing my full attention, but spending time with skilled trackers made me realise how often they're aware of everything all at once often by having a conversation and they will say “oh did you hear that bird call”. Always listening and paying attention to your surroundings will give you a greater picture of what's happening. I remember on a bush walk the group split in the middle during a walk and the tail end of the group was out of sight for a few minutes. A skilled tracker in our group gave the direction the back group, they knew they were there because of a warning bird call that was heard from that direction, a minute later a scrub hare ran past us from that direction clearly startled. The group had disturbed both the bird and the scrub hare giving us indications of movements in that area.
Moholoholo
Having spent time with Colin & Samantha Patrick and co they use the saying “tracking is life” and the more time I spent listening and understanding their theories I started to understand how they tie the fundamentals of tracking to navigating life.
Tracking has given me a greater appetite to explore a diverse range of animals and study their behaviors. It’s led me to stop and use my senses more often. Upon returning home seeing tracks in the garden and out on walks makes me want to find out what that was, what it was doing there and where did it go, its makes for a more interesting dog walk. I started to be able to differentiate some characteristics in tracks and signs already, even though I haven't studied much of the UK fauna.
Knowing the animal has been there, and what it was doing and telling a story of the animal has changed the way I view animal encounters going forward.
Hyena tracks