Post by Whiskey Jack on Feb 27, 2009 13:49:31 GMT -5
Tracking has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. I am not a hunter, and I am not a boy scout, and I am not a wilderness survivalist either, just a storyteller, and man, I have tracked some amazing stories.
One time out at the crater, I was tracking a coyote in the snow, following its prints here and there. It chased a rabbit a short way up the hill for a bit, then wandered back to a bush and was very interested with it, circling and pushing its nose in between the thicket of branches (you could tell that last part by the snow being knocked off the branches, and powdering the otherwise dry interior). Down in the valley it met up with another coyote and they played, or danced, or fought in the deep snow drifts for about a quarter mile, then they both went their separate directions. I finally followed the coyote tracks up the crater to the top. Where they stopped and a body print in the snow was visible. Siesta time. The tracks kept going, fresher now, down the otherside of the crater and off into the junipers. Did I wake it up from its nap? I sat down by where the coyote laid and took in the view. It was perhaps the best view of the Painted Desert I had seen, and though I feel like I have been over every inch of the crater, this was a new spot, and what a spot it was. Maybe the coyote was just enjoying the view?
Tracks have also been a communication tool between me and other living things. Like the winter morning my friend and I awoke at the base of Mt. Elden. It had snowed in the night, and our sleeping bags were covered with a fresh layer. All about us at our camp spot were a big set of Mountain Lion tracks, wandering between are sleeping bodies, coming close to where our heads lay, and then finally silently walking back in to the pines.
A big news story in the science world right now is all about tracks, and I just had to share it with you (sorry about that long intro). At an Archaeological dig in Kenya, they just found the oldest, fossilized human footprints ever! Crazy! I stole a picture, and present it to you with all the wonder and awe of a kid on Christmas morning.
And it is not just one foot print, but several foot prints from different individuals. A group of people wandering through there 1.5 million years ago left the first sets; and then more were added 1000 years later. The folks that found these prints followed them to a small hill, where the prints end, and they have said this summer they will look for more on the other side of the hill and see where they go.
One time out at the crater, I was tracking a coyote in the snow, following its prints here and there. It chased a rabbit a short way up the hill for a bit, then wandered back to a bush and was very interested with it, circling and pushing its nose in between the thicket of branches (you could tell that last part by the snow being knocked off the branches, and powdering the otherwise dry interior). Down in the valley it met up with another coyote and they played, or danced, or fought in the deep snow drifts for about a quarter mile, then they both went their separate directions. I finally followed the coyote tracks up the crater to the top. Where they stopped and a body print in the snow was visible. Siesta time. The tracks kept going, fresher now, down the otherside of the crater and off into the junipers. Did I wake it up from its nap? I sat down by where the coyote laid and took in the view. It was perhaps the best view of the Painted Desert I had seen, and though I feel like I have been over every inch of the crater, this was a new spot, and what a spot it was. Maybe the coyote was just enjoying the view?
Tracks have also been a communication tool between me and other living things. Like the winter morning my friend and I awoke at the base of Mt. Elden. It had snowed in the night, and our sleeping bags were covered with a fresh layer. All about us at our camp spot were a big set of Mountain Lion tracks, wandering between are sleeping bodies, coming close to where our heads lay, and then finally silently walking back in to the pines.
A big news story in the science world right now is all about tracks, and I just had to share it with you (sorry about that long intro). At an Archaeological dig in Kenya, they just found the oldest, fossilized human footprints ever! Crazy! I stole a picture, and present it to you with all the wonder and awe of a kid on Christmas morning.
And it is not just one foot print, but several foot prints from different individuals. A group of people wandering through there 1.5 million years ago left the first sets; and then more were added 1000 years later. The folks that found these prints followed them to a small hill, where the prints end, and they have said this summer they will look for more on the other side of the hill and see where they go.