Q&A: Tracking Wildlife With Naturalist Sophie Mazowita

Sophie Mazowita, 38, can look at a snowy hillside and see stories of the wild animals that have walked it. Born in Canada, Mazowita came to Vermont in 2011 to earn a master’s degree in the Field Naturalist Program at the University of Vermont. Now she specializes in wildlife tracking and spends a lot of time in nature, observing the subtle signs that creatures leave behind.

In the latest episode of “Stuck in Vermont,” Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger met up with Mazowita in Bakersfield to see what wild animals have been making tracks. The naturalist has four trail cameras monitoring activity on the private parcel of land and has recorded footage of deer, coyotes, mink, otters, bobcats, ruffed grouse and bears.

Sollberger spoke with Seven Days about filming the episode.

What kind of animal footage did you see?

Mazowita has been using trail cameras in this area for a year, so she has a treasure trove of entertaining footage of wild animals: raccoons tussling, a deer leaping, otters sliding, a bear rubbing up against the camera and a bobcat kitten eating a deer carcass. We didn’t see any wildlife during our “naturalist crawl” — we took our time, starting and stopping to examine things often — so the videos really helped illustrate the stories of the animals who inhabit the woods, streams and fields.

How was the terrain?

The snow was quite deep when we filmed this in early March. We were post-holing through the open areas, which means sinking down into snow up to our knees. This makes walking quite tiring, and I followed in Mazowita’s footsteps. The wooded area had less snow but more tree branches to navigate around. I felt clunky and uncoordinated compared to the videos of wild animals gliding across the landscape.

Stay tuned to the end of the video, when you see me wiping out and taking a “deer nap.” I lost my balance climbing over a downed tree and wound up lying on my back in the soft snow. We’d seen some deer beds earlier — imprints in the snow of their curled bodies — so I figured I might as well stay down and take a nap.

Mazowita’s husband calls her a “fecalphile.” Tell us about that…

It’s due to her interest in animal scat. During our walk, we saw deer, mouse and very old raccoon droppings. Did you know raccoons sometimes poop on logs? They make latrines and leave scat in the same place, whereas deer will leave tidy piles of pellets across the landscape as they move.

What did you learn about tracking?

Felines put more weight on their palm pad, and canines put weight on their toes. What I thought were bobcat prints were actually a coyote’s. It was such a treat learning about the animals and their tracks from Mazowita. She’s an impressive storyteller who really brings the woods to life.

“Tracking is a series of mysteries,” Mazowita said. It is also about knowing where to look, and she taught me to study branches for squirrel scent marks, utility poles for bear bites and greenery for deer teeth marks. The more I learn about these wild creatures, the more driven I am to conserve their habitats.

The original print version of this article was headlined “Walk on the Wild Side | Naturalist Sophie Mazowita tracks wild animals and shares their stories”