I have been tracking Deer Mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) a lot lately, and trying to learn a little bit more about them through their tracks and all the questions that come up. What are they eating right now? How can I tell them apart from Voles and Shrews? How many live together in the Winter? Who ate this one’s brains? You know, the usual.

Tracking is an interspecies pedagogy. We learn from the animals in the field, or from other humans who have learned about them and written out what they have learned. I am full of gratitude for all the life that the snow reveals and for the gift of tracks from the animals who leave them.