Record year for wildlife tracking

A record of just over 3,000 elementary and middle school students learned to find and identify signs of bobcat, raccoon, snowshoe hare and white-tailed deer this winter.

This success marks the fifth year of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Dept’s Scat and Tracks program. Scat and Tracks is a hybrid outdoor education curriculum that got its start in 2021 during the peak of Covid-19 school closures. Today, the program reaches K-9 classes as well as home school groups in all 14 Vermont counties.

Scat and Tracks grew to this year’s record enrollment of over 3,000 students—including 271 home schoolers—and 218 participating educators from just 390 students and 63 participating educators in its first year. Many teachers return year after year and recommend the program to their colleagues.

“We started Scat and Tracks back in 2021 as a way to help teachers get their students outside during the pandemic,” said Corey Hart, an education specialist with the department. “We never expected it to take off and keep running like it has done.”

Scat and Tracks is designed around a series of wildlife identification 
videos that participating teachers can share with their classes. Each episode highlights one of 16 Vermont species and describes its habitat needs and life cycle, conservation status, and of course how to find the species’ scat, tracks and other signs.

“We have found there is a lot of appetite just for learning about the species who share our state, from both students and their teachers and families,” said Hart. “That’s true even for fairly common wildlife like beavers and foxes. A recent survey we ran found less than half of Vermonters would say they are moderately or very knowledgeable about a surprising number of species.”

After every video lesson, teachers take their students outside looking for scat, tracks and other wildlife signs near their schools or homes. To help teachers who are new to leading nature walks, Hart provides a video masterclass on mentoring students in skills like making field observations and using a nature journal. Once field trips are complete, students and teachers can join Hart and department biologists in a group video call to share wildlife observations and bring questions directly to the experts.

“This year we had our deer biologist, our small mammal biologist, and many others join big group video calls to answer questions from students after their field trips,” said Hart. “The biologists were able to go into real depth about many Vermont species with the students, and to talk about what a career in conservation is like as well. It turned out to be an incredible hit for both the students and our scientists.”

Scat and Tracks has wrapped up for 2025 but will be offered again next year. Open registration for January 2026 will be announced in November 2025.