Grey Fox Kits Track the Nooksack

Our outing started on a grey and dreary Saturday morning. This was only to be expected as the onset of the Fall season is upon is, plus this was a Grey Fox Kits outing right? Despite the light drizzle, we loaded up Stubbs and drove out Mt. Baker Highway to the Nooksack-Deming Eagle Park. With its sandy gravel bars and silty shores, this section of the Nooksack is easily one of the best locations in our county for tracking; we were in for a treat.

Upon unloading the bus we circled up under some trees to get a quick briefing on our skills focus of Tracking and Bird Language. Of course this outing was a bit early in the season for the Bald Eagles who congregate here in the later months to feast on the copious salmon carcasses that flood our river systems with nutrients, fertilizing our vast forests. Today we were going to focus on some of the more consistent residents to the area by analyzing the intricate evidence left behind from their day to day behaviors. First and foremost we would be looking at tracks; counting toes, looking for claw marks, determining direction, size, weight, gait, speed, and even possible intention behind where each creature is going and why. More evidence can be unearthed from the scat that all metabolic creatures produce, giving insight into diet, species type, and even territorial boundaries. With the basics of tracking freshly imprinted in our minds we made a bee line for the woods, flood plains, gravel bars, and eventually bank of the Nooksack.

Immediately we found canine tracks in the mud, some small, some large, some accompanies by Homo sapiens tracks, others not. To further our quandaries we find a few samples of scat. About the thickness of a large cigar, tubular, tapering at the ends, full of hair, seeds, bones, and fruit pits. Sounds like an omnivore to me. Large canid tracks accompanied the scat and knowing what the average domestic dog scat looks like from our adventures closer to town, we quickly determined that this was evidence of something wilder that relies more on hunting and gathering than a regular bowl full of kibbles. The tracks were however larger than the typical coyote found around town, painting a picture of a large male coyote, patrolling his territory, leaving scat and other scent markings near intersections along trails to signify this is his home. Or perhaps a large domestic dog that strayed too far from home one day and now is reverting to the lingering wild of its inner wolf, surviving off the land, roaming free. The mystery may never be solved, but it’s easy to see how a simple set of tracks and a large pile of scat, an inquisitive and powerful imagination, can soon paint an almost storybook quality narrative all unfolding upon the very ground we were standing upon at that very moment.

Following the path further, we broke through the trees and out into the flood plains and gravel bars. Upon startling a couple browsing Black-Tailed Deer, we had a wonderful time following as fresh a set of tracks as you can get. Leaving the deer alone to continue with their brunch, we settled in on a beautiful bank of the Nooksack. Silty, clay like, sediment preserved countless numbers of tracks in this hotspot of animal activity. Perfect for plaster casting! Spreading out, tracking set after set, determining possible species present, and making sure not to disturb the tracks with tracks of our own, each Explorer picked out a track that called to them. Building a small circular wall of dirt around the track provided a frame for our casts. Mentors mixed Plaster of Paris ($3-4 per carton at the store!) in a cup with water until it came to a pancake batter consistency, gently poured the plaster into the track, gave it a good jiggle with a stick to help the plaster settle into the finer details of the track, and sat back and waited half an hour for the plaster to set. (This is a great, and dirt cheap, activity to do with your Explorers! Each carton can produce 10-15 tracks depending on size of track, and you’re rewarded with a track eternalized in plaster that can be kept for memories, added to a collection, or given to friends and family as a gifts.)

Waiting for the casts to set, the Grey Fox Kits reverted to their favorite game: “Where’s My Egg?!?” This game has become a necessity on our outings and is a great way for the gang to get their wiggles out while working together to continually adapt new strategies, yet the results are always the same. A big pile of Explorers laughing and giggling with one another, ever more intent and comradery and friendship than winning.

Unearthing our plaster casts we took inventory of our bounty: coyote, domestic dog, and a couple beautiful casts of the elusive Puma concolor. Thoroughly enjoying ourselves we took the last bit of our outing to revert back to the basics; Exploring! We trekked around, found a bunch of pools, a toad, a spider that could walk on water, and culminated with everyone throwing the biggest rocks they could into a large pool of water in the most simplistic, yet satisfying form of entertainment for any boy, young or old. Finally it was time to hit the road. Loading up into Stubbs we returned to town full of memories, a greater knowledge of tracking, and a handful of plaster casts to share with parents. The mentors were especially impressed with the Grey Fox Kits on this outing. Everyone was engaged in tracking throughout the whole outing, there is an obvious comradery bubbling out of these boys, and they are truly coming together to prove a group can be greater than the sum of its individuals. The mentors had such a blast on this outing and are enthused with the growth of the Grey Fox Kits. We can’t wait for what adventures await us during the rest of our Fall season and beyond into the future.

Make sure to check out the rest of the photos from this outing at the Grey Fox Kits Photo Gallery!