Progress Continues on Tracks & Sign of Reptiles and Amphibians

Our progress continues on the new tracking book, Tracks & Sign of Reptiles and Amphibians. Alderleaf instructors Jason Knight and myself (Filip Tkaczyk) continue to travel throughout the country gathering data on reptiles and amphibians.

The last 2 trips I took for the book included a trip to California and a trip throughout the Southwest (which included the states of NV, AZ, UT and NM). The trip before that was a trip to Florida.

Our knowledge base continues to grow and we look forward to the completion of this project. Here are some highlights from the 2 recent trips.

A Desert Banded Gecko (Coleonyx variegatus) from the Mojave desert in California.

And here are the tracks of the same gecko species.

 

A very large red diamond rattlesnake (Crotalus ruber) from coastal southern California.

Here is a sand-adapted lizard species called the Mojave Fringe-toed lizard (Uma scoparia).

And here is a hind foot from a fringe-toed lizard.  Notice the enlarged scales on the toes that act like "snow shoes" for running on loose sand.

Here is a spikey-looking Blainville's horned lizard (Phrynosoma blainvillii).

Here are a few highlights from the research trip to Florida.

A young eastern coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum flagellum).  The large eyes demonstrate the dominant sense of this active hunter.

This is a beautiful and harmless scarlet kingsnake (Lampropeltis elapsoides), which displays an excellent color mimicry of the highly venomous eastern coral snake (Micrurus fulvius fulvius).

Here are the fragmented remains of an American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis).  These are the parts of the skull, lower mandible, and skin.

 

Look for more updates from the Alderleaf Blog soon!

Slideshow of the 2011-2012 Wilderness Certification Program!

The Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program just held its annual graduation ceremony on May 26, 2012. It was an amazing year filled with much learning, adventure, and accomplishment. Check out photos from their program in this video slideshow. Congratulations again to all of the graduates!

Spring Activities at Alderleaf

The past few weeks have been very busy and exciting for the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program students. Here are some recent highlights from different class days...



Here one of the students practiced the skill of making baskets out of pine needles. Each student had their own particular approach, so the baskets were completed in a variety of shapes and sizes.



Here are just a few examples of completed baskets.

On another class day, students learned more about Permaculture practices. Students got out on the farm to enjoy the sun and apply some of what they have learned.




Here Certification Program students Shaun and Jared work together to help create plant cuttings for raspberry plants, so that more plants can be grown and spread around the farm.


Spring is showing its lovely face everywhere you look around at Alderleaf. Flowers are bursting, frogs are chorusing and the sun is shinning!




Yesterday, students worked on trying out several primitive cooking methods which included steam pit cooking, clay baking on coals and cooking in a clay oven. Some students also created utensils to eat their cooked food with.



Here student Gianna blows on a coal to encourage it to burn out a cavity for her wooden spoon.




Student Carrie carefully seals the clay on the outside of a trout, that will soon be laid into the hot coals of the fire. This form of primitive cooking cooks food very evenly, and seals in the moisture. The trout came out cooked to perfection!




Here student Alex closes the door to the clay oven, to help trap in the heat in preparation for some primitive baking.

The students had an excellent time learning how to use these different methods of cooking and at the end of the day, they got to enjoy the fruits of their labor by having a primitively cooked feast! The food was delicious, included a variety of vegatables, salmon and some cornish game hens. and did not even require any spices, as it was cooked to perfection.

Next week the students are heading out into the field to take their Track & Sign Evaluations. Wish them luck!

Tracks & Sign of Reptiles & Amphibians!

Alderleaf instructors, Fil and Jason, have just begun work on an exciting field guide project about the tracks & sign of reptiles and amphibians!

The book project is aiming to break new ground by determining ways to differentiate the footprints and other evidence left behind by many species of herps. Fil and Jason are making trips (in between teaching classes) out to each region of the country to gather data over the next two years. The goal is to add new knowledge to the field of wildlife tracking to aid trackers and biologists.

Here's a few photos from Jason's recent research trip to Texas:

This is a green anole (Anolis carolinensis) we found:

Here's a photo of the track made by its front foot:

And here's a photo of the actual front foot (notice the uniquely-shaped expanded toe pads):

Here's the track made by the hind foot:

And the actual hind foot:

Here's a cricket frog (Acris crepitans) we came across:

These are the tracks left by the cricket frog (the front toe tips are not expanded, unlike most other genera of very small frogs):

This is a keeled earless lizard (Hobrookia propinqua) we spotted in the field:

The keeled earless lizard left this scat:

Here's a texas tortoise (Gopherus berlandieri) we came across in the field. It was feeding.

Here's a close-up of the hairy cat's ear plant the tortoise was eating:

Stay tuned for more updates in the future!

Interested in learning wildlife tracking skills? Check out Alderleaf's Wildlife Tracking Apprenticeship.

Advanced Fire Making at the Wilderness Certification Program

Instructor Steve Nicolini led Wilderness Certification Program students through the next step on their journey through learning primitive fire-making methods. Class was started by demonstrating the amazing wet-wood fire. This entails pouring a bucket of water on the firewood before it is lit!



Here Alderleaf intern Gordon shows students how to light a fire after five gallons of water have been poured on the wood! Notice all the water running down the stones that surround the fire pit.

This method is an excellent skill to have mastered if you plan to start a fire during one of the down pours that can occur during winter in the temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest. The key is in the structure and materials used.

Students also got to refine their skills of bow-drill and got a chance to work on the hand drill fire making method. This method takes patience and perseverance at first, but was and is still used by indigenous people in many different parts of the world.

Check in on our blog again soon!

Willow Baskets

The Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program spent 2 days working on learning the art of making functional willow baskets. Before the winter trip, students also used willow to make primitive snowshoes.



Student, Ben, demonstrates how the process works. With a little patience and some elbow grease, students end up with a practical container made completely of natural materials.



Here another Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program student, Carlsen, shows us his completed willow basket. He even included a handle! Through doing this activity, some students like Carlsen realize they have real knack for making baskets.

Now with completed baskets, students can go out and collect mushrooms, berries and other wild edibles!

Snow and The Winter Trip

Alderleaf Wilderness College had an unexpected snowfall during the week of January 16th. Over the course of several days, a total of between 1.5 and 2 feet of snow accumulated, an unusually high amount for this elevation!

Wilderness Certification Program students worked on learning the construction and use of primitive traps and snares for wilderness survival.



Here, instructor Steve Nicolini is assisted by students Jeremy and Lucas in setting up a weighted snare for demonstration.



An example of a Figure-4 deadfall trap set by Alderleaf Wilderness College student Jamie.

The next week was the much anticipated Winter Field Trip to the North Cascades. The week was filled with adventure, and winter-time survival focused lessons including snow shelter construction, snow tracking, winter survival skills, winter foraging and more.



Here is a view of some of the snow shelters constructed by the Certification Program students. The shelters included quinzee and snow-trench type shelters.



Here student Patrick shows us how to have fun in the snow.

The trip was amazing, and we were grateful for all of the snow, sunshine and learning!

Photo Highlights from Fall 2011

We've had another excellent & busy fall here at Alderleaf. Here's a few photo highlights:

Survival bow making days at the Wilderness Certification Program

Making primitive arrows for the sapling bows

Working with cattail plants to make mats and survival sleeping pads

Sue Morse teaching about a mountain lion scrape

Alderleaf Farm in September (from atop the west house roof)

Making teas from wild medicinal plants

Nutty squirrels blindfolded awareness game

Bow drill fire making challenge - pop the water balloon with fire!

Bow drill fire making challenge

Bow drill fire making challenge

The 2012 Course Calendar is now live on our website.

Have a great holiday season!

Olympic Peninsula with the Certification Program

The Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program crew spent an amazing 3 days on the Olympic Peninsula. The first day involved a visit to the Makah museum. Here students go to see first hand how the Makah used their skills to hunt, gather, build homes, maintain villages, and much more. The Makah have traditionally relied on the bounty of the Pacific coast to provide them with all of their needs. The Makah continue to live on the Olympic peninsula, and have a living culture and language.

The following day, we hiked out to the Olympic coast to visit Cape Alava. There students got to experience some of that bounty from the ocean for themselves. Here Alderleaf student Oscar Lugo Jr. samples some wild seaweeds.



The coast has many species of edible seaweeds, as well as a rich variety of other sea life. Students got to see bald eagles, harbor seals, California and Steller's sea lions, sea otters and more. Even the tracks of a cougar and bear were spotted walking along the beach!

The next day was spent getting acquainted with the old-growth forests of along the Hoh river, an area known as the Hoh Rainforest, within Olympic National Park. Many of the trees in this forest are grand, gnarly old giants like the Sitka spruce tree being embraced below.



Here, Alderleaf student Amy explores the roots of the another massive spruce tree. This forest can make you feel small and help you really appreciate how big trees can get under the right conditions.



The Olympic peninsula is always an amazing place to visit. We all headed home both satisfied and a bit regretful at having to leave such a magical place behind.

Trailing in the Eastern Cascades

The wildlife tracking apprenticeship headed out for a day of trailing in the pine forests of the eastern cascade mountains. As we wandered out into the beautiful fall landscape, we saw the tracks of a variety of animals including elk, mule deer and coyote.



Our main goal was to pick up the fresh trail of an elk. After wandering through the crisp air and sunshine, we found the relatively fresh trails of not 1, but 6 elk wandering together.

These we followed through challenging terrain and a variety of tracking substrates. We saw where they had bedded down together, where they grazed and browsed, and where a large bull started following this group of 6. In several spots we observed where he trashed some small shrubs and left some antler rubs. His fur was still stuck to the sap.



We ended the day having learned more about elk, ourselves and about the skills of trailing. All of us are already looking forward to another visit to the eastern cascades.

AWCP 2011-2012 Off and Running!

The 2011-2012 Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program (AWCP) is off to a great start! 40 new students began their year on September 6th. They've already completed basic training on wilderness survival shelter-building, bow drill fire-making, fall wild edible plants, wildlife track identification, outdoor leadership, and navigation!

AWCP Class of 2011-2012

First fire with bow drill friction fire method

Teaching track identification skills along the Skykomish River

Oasis at the Oregon Dunes wildlife tracking field trip

Next month, the AWCP students will begin their training in permaculture, continue survival and ethnobotany studies, and take a field trip to the old growth forests and coast of the Olympic Peninsula.

Learn more about the Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program