In mid January, I made my first trip ever to Texas where I joined Texas State Wildlife Biologist and Cybertracker Evaluator Jonah Evans to deliver a Track and Sign Certification event for Urban Biologists from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) in southern Texas. Jonah is also the author of an excellent Iphone App Tracking Guide and manages a website with a large collection of well organized track and sign photographs.
Track and Sign Evaluator and Texas Parks and Wildlife Biologist Jonah Evans leads a discussion about the tracks left by several coyotes traveling on the shore of Laguna Atascosa in southern Texas.
The wetlands and thickets of this part of Texas are a birding mecca, with over half of all the species of birds which can be found in the continental United States making their way through the region over the course of the year. Besides bird life, the area is home to a wide variety of mammal species including oceolots, a very rare species in the United States as well as feral pigs and a variety of other introduced exotic species.
Tracks of a bounding Hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) in mud.
Front and hind tracks of an oceolot (Leopardus pardalis). The Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge contains one of the only breeding populations of this wild feline in the United States.
Congratulations to everyone who earned a Certification during this event. Click on the image for a complete list of certified wildlife trackers in North America.