Tracking & Perception
A Three-Season, Three-part Series 2024
May 4-5 // July 6-7 // September 28-29
Central “New England”
Unceded Wabanaki, Nipmuc, Agawam Lands
Cost: $1,175
The three-season three-part Tracking & Perception Series starts in May. This will be a departure from Tracking as usual, delving into the exploration of the broad influences that lead us to the conclusions that we arrive at, and honing of approaches that increase our accuracy and abilities.
Practices will include visual, auditory, tactile, creative, verbal & non-verbal, and somatic approaches to broadening our familiarity with and awareness of who we're tracking and how we are tracking & perceiving.
I highly recommend this for those who share tracking with others, particularly intensive tracking courses as so many of the practices integrated are one-of-a-kind, developed in intimate collaborations, and yet to be incorporated into familiar cognitive teaching approaches.
There will not be a syllabus and we will be required to release the concept and expectation that we have control over tracking. Whether we attempt to control species presence, the influence of weather, the expectations of a group, and any other factor, when we do this we lose something very impactful. We'll be on the trail of what that is, and how to find it.
If you find that your mind trips you up and beats you down along your tracks and trail, this will likely be a welcome respite from that kind of tracking experience. We will definitely include that beast among the animals we're tracking!
The learning will be rich & substantial, and species identification will not be neglected. Though this is not an introductory course in ID & interpretation, it is here for anyone engaged in wildlife tracking.
Tracking & Perception
Workshops
So. White Mtns NH // June 15 // $125
Chatham NY // July 13 // $125
For millennia trackers have cultivated an exquisite vision of the world far surpassing their original function of providing sustenance and safety. Similarly, artists have long-developed acute observation skills, expressing, and reproducing what they see. Participants’ abilities to see the natural world as trackers and naturalists are enhanced to new depths. Experience a release from the ruts of the typical ‘dirt time’ practices. Entirely new approaches to perception await you.
Historically, wildlife and tracking are widely considered among the earliest inspirations for humanity’s artistic expression. The artists' eyes have always been keenly perceptive and trackers can glean much more in the field by observing nature using elemental principles of artistic observation. Line, texture, light, color, and form are explored individually as well as holistically. We take time to orient to these elements; expanding the tracker’s ability to see more in the field.
We practice track interpretation, observation of wildlife signs, and movement on animal trails. Exercises & practices will be within the context of the artist's eyes; enhancing the skills of the wildlife tracker, increasing your ability to perceive more of what's there, and presenting ways of seeing with greater ease & clarity.
Through discussion, hands-on practices, and exercises we will hone our skills in ways that have much relevance to all disciplines of wildlife tracking. With knees in the sand, sculpt the animals on their trails and gain understanding of track patterns & gaits. Learn to sketch what you actually see without judgement; counteract your patterning on images of “perfect tracks” exhibited in the field guides. Explore track characteristics without scale; break free from your ruler -and return to it with fresh eyes. View tracks from alternative perspectives; release yourself from seeing tracks as “upside-down” or “right-side-up.” Orient to the subtlety of color baselines; key into chromatic cues, and follow them along the animal’s trail.
Daniel Hansche is a tracker and a passionate educator with over twenty-five yers of consistent field experience. They have mentored hundreds and have taught many more through workshops, trainings, and seminars. A certified Track & Sign Specialist in desert and forested regions of the US, they are adept and ready to contribute in most any environment. Daniel creates an inclusive and thoughtfully challenging space for trackers and naturalists to grow within. They are ever enthusiastic in fostering the natural wildlife tracker -rooted in awareness, driven by curiosity, and called to adventure by track, sign, & trail.