C11. Winter Wildlife Tracking (Choiniere)

Over 50 kinds of animals are active in New England winters.  Their overnight activities are preserved in snow tracks and trails.  Even without snow there are many signs of wildlife to study.  We will learn to recognize and identify wildlife tracks and follow trails to see how they move, where they go, and what they eat. We will combine indoor slide presentations with short outdoor walks around the sanctuary grounds looking for signs of winter wildlife. Each session will cover a different group of animals that share similar tracks and trails.

GROUP LEADER: Joe Choiniere is Mass Audubon’s Central Sanctuaries Property Manager, dividing time between Worcester’s Broad Meadow Brook Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary and Princeton’s Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary. He has worked for Mass Audubon since 1975 at various sites and in different capacities, serving as Property Manager at Laughing Brook in Hampden, MA and Sanctuary Director at Wachusett Meadow. Joe is a lifelong naturalist and has a B.S. in Natural History from UMass/Amherst.

NO REQUIRED BOOKS