Point Reyes tracker, the author provides tips for observing animals and nature

2021-12-14 09:41:16 By : Ms. Alyssa Lin

The art and science of animal tracking, defined by Richard Vacha as "natural consciousness", begins with a subtle change in the way people see the world. For Vacha, this is a skill that can be learned in a matter of minutes. Moreover, in more than 30 years of his 73 years, he has practiced this art, and he said that he still learns more every time he goes out.

While walking in the swamps of Petaluma Schorenberg Park, Vacha gave some simple instructions: "Let’s start by picking some very small objects from a distance. I’m picking a fence post on that hillside. ," he said, pointing to Highway 101, half a mile away. "I am very focused on it.

"Then, while still keeping that object in your field of vision, expand to peripheral vision. If you notice, you can almost see your feet, you can see the sky; you can see almost 180 degrees around you ——But still be precise in your field of vision." As it happens, this is unexpectedly easy.

"We are expanding the brain's ability to use vision," he said simply. "It does require some practice, but you can learn to walk in this state."

He repeated the process with his feet sandwiched between pebbles, and advised his hiking partners to do the same.

"Just choose a pebble, focus tightly, and then enter the wide-angle view again," he said. "My cobblestone stayed where I saw it, but now I see the ground. I came to see you and I saw a lot of things in my vision."

The next step in his crash course involves color. Walking slowly, he casually pointed out the various shades, hues, shades, and shades of green, red, yellow, and brown that were visible on the trail and outside the swamp. He noticed the contours and shapes of the terrain, the different types of leaves, the intensity of the light, and the relative dryness and dampness of the ground. He repeated the process with his voice. It only takes a few minutes to make the scenery more vivid.

For Vacha, this is the true meaning of tracking—not just being able to identify animals or track prey. He called it "the most basic human skill". This is the key to our hunter-gatherer ancestors. For him, it is a practice that makes the natural world easier to understand and reawakens profound humanity.

Vacha's new book "The Core of Tracking; The Inner and Outer Practice of Natural Consciousness" is a compilation of his weekly columns published in the Point Reyes Light newspaper over the past ten years. Its 49 short chapters include some fascinating comments on tracking as a practice, but mainly the diaries of his outdoor community and its residents, from bobcats and birds to bugs.

Chapter 3, "Before Autumn: September and October", gives a good example of a person who opened the world of "tracking thinking" when he read his footprints and feces and left with the story of the season What it looks like.

"Lynx and coyotes have been ruthlessly looking for further places to feed themselves and their children. As the drought years and the number of prey dwindle, they have to work harder and their patterns are more scattered. The fox has passed through. An exceptionally successful year, this may be due to the rodent population that has expanded due to heavy rains. Now, they and the raccoons are busy comparing orchard maps and tasting fruit crops that are about to mature. The omnivorous dung is full of blackberries and cranberries. Seeds and skins of berries, manzanita berries, plums and apples."

In addition to writing columns, Vacha also leads a monthly expedition to track the club. He said this is the way it has always been. Tracking is most suitable as a group activity.

"No matter how many people there are, you can multiply your perception ability," he said. "People see different things, and suddenly you work like an organism to find out what's going on. It's really a powerful experience. There is a richness and a joy in there."

Wacha first encountered the follower of author and teacher Tom Brown. His book "The Follower" was published in 1978 and caused a sensation. For decades, Brown ran a tracking school in his home near the pine barrens of New Jersey. Schools run by his former students are being tracked in almost every state. He is a controversial character.

In his book, Brown claims that he has learned tracking from his friend's grandfather since he was 7 years old. He is an old Apache named Stalking Wolf. He claims that he lives in the wilderness of the pine barrens. No one else has reported encountering Stalking Wolf, and there is no evidence of his existence. Wacha did not involve himself in the controversy, only that he found Brown himself blunt and his skills were undeniable.

As for the equally controversial view that tracking sports is an example of inappropriate cultural appropriation, Vassar did not see it—and he personally did not rely heavily on Native American references. "I think humans have a universal tracking instinct," he said. "It involves the origin of human consciousness, and of course the origin of language. Hunter-gatherers are using these consciousness skills all over the world."

After walking a short distance along the path, Wacha found a pile of excrement. After investigation, it is more accurately a pile of three feces-one is quite fresh, and the other two are in different stages of decomposition. He quickly determined that this was the place where the coyote kept defecation to mark its territory, and "Yes, plums are now ripening."

Going further, he examined another small stool that seemed to be a few days old. It has a layer of shiny mucus, which is filled with clearly unmistakable rabbit fur. Lynx, Wacha concluded.

He is much slower than the casual hiker. Something caught his attention, and he slid down the path to examine a nibble branch or a piece of fur on a thorn. In less than an hour, even during interviews, this diverse nature worship is both exciting and relaxing.

For Vacha, as the subtitle of his book suggests, tracking is to a certain extent a spiritual practice, a brand of meditation that can calm and strengthen the mind as effectively as Eastern meditation practice.

"Our brain is a filter organ," he said. "Our senses are absorbing, and our brains are noticing more information than we really realize. In a state of tracking the mind of the person, you will realize what your senses are receiving. Through training, you can understand The relationship between all things, the relationship between any animal movement and the animal’s life, its location in a specific location and its evolutionary history. The story is constantly unfolding."

He said that the science and practice of reading animal activities "reduced my philosophical thinking to a practical level, so that I would not get lost in unfounded thinking." "It avoids the necessity of a belief system because you are only dealing with what is actually and observable. It allows you to enter your intuitive senses and what is deeply ingrained in the structure of your brain."

Vacha said that this kind of "open meditation" continues to make him nervous, and he is currently facing what he calls "personal advantage." He said that last spring, he visited a terrace above the sand dunes near his home in Point Reyes. After two wet winters, this place he has been to for decades is more vibrant than ever. The colors look brighter, and the plant and animal communities are richer. He said it was difficult to absorb them all.

"I think this is the culmination of all my tracking experience so far," he said. "Nature is calling me to open up, just to be able to accept it.

"But there is a weakness, because when I return to the human world, especially in these days, you will meet some grumpy people. Nature may be vicious, but it is not grumpy."

He said that his tolerance for such irritability is getting lower and lower. But he thinks that the key may be to do what he thinks nature requires him to do: open up more.

Update: Please read and follow our comment policy: