I am probably one of the worst people to take out in the woods during the winter if there is snow on the ground. I can not walk in a straight line if there are any sort of animal tracks around. I need to know what animal is walking around, which direction they were traveling and if I can find any beds or dropped antlers (in the case of deer.) I have learned this from being out in the woods and from being taught by my dad. But, I have noticed that less and less people know what they are looking at when they are out in the woods. I fear that what I once thought of as common knowledge for outdoor education is really uncommon knowledge.

I love to be outside in the winter when there is snow on the ground. I have found some well-used deer trails just by walking through the woods and observing how fresh the tracks were and if they were traveling in both directions. I put a trail camera there and it is one of my most active, regardless of the time of year.

My kids hate going for walks with me because of my need to know and better understand the habits of the wildlife around us. They also get annoyed when I constantly ask them what animal made the track, but they answer me and they are usually correct. They have been brought up in a world where hunting and conservation is a part of life. I know their peers are not as lucky.

A couple of years ago, one of my kids was handed a piece of paper from their teacher.  I was standing next there as she explained that when we go for walks in the woods, we could look for some of these animal tracks. I held the paper and couldn’t quite comprehend what I was looking at. My first thought was that it was odd to see “cow” listed since you don’t usually see cows in the woods.  The more I read, the more upset I got.

When I got home, I made an “x” next to all of the animals that do NOT live in Maine and therefore, we would not be able to track. We don’t have Black-footed ferrets or badgers. I haven’t seen a pronghorn or mule deer while I have been out hunting.

That teacher either didn’t know that Maine doesn’t have these animals or she just saw ‘animal tracks’ and hit print. Either way, other kids took home that sheet of paper. There was no moose or white tailed deer listed.  No black bear or turkey.  Even if you had no idea about the outdoors, you should know some basics of which animals live here. As a teacher, there should be no room for error. My child never saw that sheet of paper, it ended up in the trash.

Me being me, I went to the IF&W website, found the listing of animals in Maine and their tracks. The next morning, I brought in enough copies for everyone in the class, plus a few extras.

In an effort to counter the lack of outdoor education, I have made a handful of trips into elementary school classrooms. I usually bring in a bear rug, a deer hide, coyote pelt, beaver pelt and maybe the bobcat or the wolf (from Alaska!) and the skulls that go with each animal. I will bring in deer and moose antlers and mention to the students that antlers fall off every year, horns do not. I don’t hide the fact that I have killed all of these animals or know that people that did. I don’t shy away from the fact that I love bear and deer meat, and if you throw a beaver roast into a crockpot, it is delicious.

As generations get further and further away from knowing the animals that live in Maine and understanding their importance to the overall ecosystem and economy, I would like to think that I am doing my part to change that trend. Some of those young kids had a sense of wonder as they compared the soft, thick fur of a bear to the course hair of a deer. They could hold the broken skullcap of a deer and see the intricate pattern that the bone made as it fused together.

If we want more kids to take an interest in the outdoors, conservation and the environment, then we need to give them correct information. We need to give them opportunities to continue learning and getting excited about the outdoors and our wild animals. Parents need to disconnect and bring their kids out into the woods to look for tracks. Go look for deer tracks or turkey tracks or snowshoe hare tracks.

There is nothing better for us right now than to unplug, go for a walk and learn to identify the animals in our woods. But, if you do find a mule deer track, let me know.

Erin Merrill, an award-winning writer based in central Maine, writes “Hunt & Harvest” monthly. She welcomes emails at: Erin@andastrongcupofcoffee.com.