Western Maine Audubon is sponsoring a talk, “Wildlife Tracking in Maine” by Charles “Chuck” Hulsey at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8. The talk, which is free and open to the public, will be held in Thomas Auditorium, Preble Hall at the University of Maine at Farmington.

Tracks by walking lynx. Charles Hulsey photo

Hulsey will share wildlife tracking and species ID tips and techniques that he has used over the years while doing winter wildlife tracking surveys for lynx, bobcat, pine marten, and fisher. These techniques allow for accurate identification of the owner’s tracks, even if of poor quality, which is often the case, according to a news release from Will Jones, audubon board member.

As an example, he will cover how he identified the tracks shown in the accompanying photo while doing Canada lynx surveys in western Maine. The tracks were filled in, but could still be identified as a lynx from nearly a 100 feet away because of their size and track pattern.

Hulsey is a 1978 graduate of the University of Maine at Orono with Bachelor of Science degrees in both Wildlife Management and Forest Management. He worked for the Maine Forest Service from 1978 to 1988; most of that time as a district forester providing management advice to small woodland owners. He worked for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) since 1988, nearly all that time as the regional wildlife biologist in Western Maine Region D. He is working on three statewide projects: 1.) writing wildlife habitat management guidelines for the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands with fellow wildlife biologist Sarah Spencer; 2.) providing deer wintering area management assistance statewide; and 3.) providing additional assistance capacity to MDIFW’s private lands program.

His talk will be recorded and placed on Western Maine Audubon’s website western.maineaudubon.org for viewing within a few weeks.

For more information, contact Jones at 207-491-2443 or twilljo@gmail.com.

Check out other upcoming area events!