to know the land
Episodes
Ep. 281 : Red-winged Blackbird Nest in Algonquin Park
23 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
On a very cold day in February, while trailing a Algonquin Wolves (Canis lycaon) across the frozen Lake of Two Rivers, South of highway 60 running thr...
Ep. 280 : Holiday Tracking Stories
29 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s always nice to have a few days off during this time of year. While a lot of folks are busy with family, or having cozy times at home, I can wan...
Ep. 279 : Winter Solstice
15 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Winter Solstice has returned. Technically it’s in a few days but with the longer nights, it’s certainly being felt. This year I have been out trac...
Ep. 278 : Getting to know the Southern Flying Squirrel
01 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
While out tracking in the new snow the other day I came across some relatively small tracks, reminiscent of a Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) or Red Squirr...
Ep. 277 : Signs of the White-tailed Deer Rut
17 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
While tracking White-tailed Deer at Mono Cliffs with the Earth Tracks apprenticeship, we saw lots of signs of the rut and the subtle ways deer communi...
Ep. 276 : Chinook Salmon along the Credit River
20 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I have missed a few of the notable migrations this year; Salamanders, raptors, and until yesterday, the Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). The...
Ep. 275 : Once Upon a Bear Scat
22 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It isn’t often that I get to see bear scat down here in Guelph, but in Parry Sound, there are many Black Bears, and while visiting the Sound for a t...
Ep. 274 : Black Walnut, again.
10 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I am in love with Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) and I want shout all about it throughout the late Summer, early Autumn season. They are big, beautiful,...
Ep. 273 : Canada Goldenrod
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Recently I was talking with one of my adult programs about successional and keystone species. Successional species are those early plants which come i...
Ep. 272 : Minnow Magazine
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sisters Alex and Tasha Sawatzky’s knowledge of and growing appreciation for the land they lived on was tangible and real, so how could they tell the...
Ep. 271 : Sensual engagement with the land
29 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sight is the dominant sense in humans, followed close behind by hearing and perhaps touch. Many of us have cut ourselves off from the natural world by...
Ep. 270 : Rough Horsetail
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An ancient plant of the genus Equisetum, (the only extent genera of the family Equisetaceae, and only living member of the order Equisetales), Horseta...
Ep. 269 : Listening to the Grey Treefrogs
02 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Grey Treefrogs (Hyla versicolor) are my favorite frog species at the moment. They are cute little colour changing, antifreeze laden, Lichen-Spirits wh...
Ep. 268 : Do Deer Mice Eat Birds?
12 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It started with a little hole at the base of an Eastern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) tree, and a couple of seeds. Who had collected and consumed t...
Ep. 266 : Getting to know Song Sparrows
07 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I have been excited about Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia) for a while. Theirs was one of the first complex songs I learned to identify, and being su...
Ep. 265 : The Legs of the White-tailed Deer
24 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I have found sign of three dead White-tailed Deer in the past three weeks. One, killed by Coyotes. Another, hit by a vehicle, found on the side of the...
Ep. 264 : A Fisher in Edmonton with Sage Raymond
17 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fishers aren’t known as an urban adapted species. They tend to avoid our built up landscapes and prefer landscapes of mature forests comprised of ap...
Ep. 263 : Winter Wildlife Tracking Trip in Algonquin Park, 2025
24 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As I mentioned on the previous show about the Lynx trailing trip, I was planning on heading up to Algonquin Park to trail Moose, Algonquin Wolves, Mar...
Ep. 262 : Birds at Rest with Roger Pasquier
17 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I have had a lot of conversations with biologists and ornithologists over the years, trying to learn about how different animals sleep. Are the functi...
Ep. 261 : Trailing Lynx at Elk Lake
27 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I just got home from an amazing week away up North in Elk Lake, Ontario, Robinson-Huron treaty territory, trailing Lynx with Earth Tracks. It was an a...
Ep. 260 : New Year, New Egg Case
06 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I was out for a walk along the Eramosa River in Guelph with a pal on New Years Day, when she lifted a log and showed me some strange white patches alo...
Ep. 259 : Winter Solstice
18 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It is nearing the Winter Solstice once more. Only days to go, and that means with the dark nights growing longer, I am spending a little more time i...
Ep. 258 : The Gift of the Tracks
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I spent the day out tracking, first with a class backtracking a Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) and examining the track patterns and interpreting their gait...
Ep. 257 : “Bye Bye Blue Triton!” with Arlene Slocombe
18 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2017 I interviewed Arlene Slocombe for the second time but the first time it was recorded. She was telling the story of a successful event, “Wate...
Ep. 256 : Apple Scat of Coyotes and Red Fox
11 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the later part of the Summer, I was walking with my friend and colleague Tamara when we came across some scat with Apples (Malus domestica) in it...
Ep. 255 : Saturday morning at McGregor Point
29 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Listening to the land, in a very tangible way, can lead to some pretty special moments. Whether it is Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapilus) ...
Ep. 254 : Eavesdropping on Animals with George Bumann
14 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Aside of our human cultural space there is the broad other-than human animal place. A world we exist along with, and yet are still achingly removed ...
Ep. 253 : Mushroom Color Atlas with Julie Beeler
30 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As Julie Beeler writes, it wasn’t until 1969 that fungi were taxonomically separated from plants and recognized as inhabiting their own kingdom. The...
Ep. 252 : Mussel Midden Mystery
25 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
While teaching up at the Lodge at Pine Cove this past weekend we came across lots of tracks and sign. Tons of Sawfly (wasplike insects) cocoons, som...
Ep. 251 : Celebrating Pawpaws with the Urban Orchardist, Matt Soltys
09 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For the last couple of years, I have been going to Pawpaw Fest which my friend and neighbour Matt Soltys organizes. Matt Soltys, for those listeners ...
Ep. 250 : Jewelweed
02 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) is a very common, very attractive and conspicuous species on the landscape. We see them often and are probably pretty f...
Ep. 249 : Bird Pellets with Ed Drewitt
12 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As an aspiring wildlife tracker I want to know about the signs that animals leave behind. Due to my annoyingly excitable curiosity this includes all...
Ep. 248 : Fate of a three-legged Coyote with Joey Hinton
05 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
While looking into possible Red Wolf (Canis rufus) genetics found in a Coastal Louisiana Coyote (Canis latrans) populations, biologist Dr. Joseph Hint...
Ep. 247 : What is a Forest?
08 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Every year I get the privilege of co-leading a spiritual retreat weekend with the wonderful Greg Kennedy at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre. This year we r...
Ep. 246 : Healing Relationships with Land Through Help of Red Clover
24 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I have been feeling a little bit distant lately. Like some sort of anxious attachment distant. Avoidant even. While trying to not be too clingy or ha...
Ep. 245 : Cedar Waxwings in Early Summer
10 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the midst of a lowland forest at the edge of town, out for a slow walk with a pal, we heard the calls of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) and s...
Ep. 244 : The Call of the Northern Green Frog
03 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For the past few years I have been going out at night in May to record the calls of American Toads (Anaxyrus americanus) and Leopard Frogs (Lithobates...
Ep. 243 : A National Urban Park in Guelph
20 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Eramosa River Valley is the place where I live, play and work. Having spent roughly the last 20 years along the banks of the river, sitting, run...
Ep. 242 : I really don’t know much about Earthworms
06 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This past weekend I got to participate in my second track and sign evaluation with Tracker Certification North America and one of the most interesti...
Ep. 241 : Understanding Myself as an Amphibian with Maxwell Matchim
15 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I have been thinking a lot about the diversity of sexuality and gender in nature. Wondering about how different animals, plants, and fungi present sex...
Ep. 240 : FREED (Field Research in Ecology and Evolution Diversified)
08 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When I look into the authors who wrote most of the naturalist, ecology, natural history books on my shelves, I mostly see white people, especially the...
Ep. 239 : Wood Rots
01 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ok, so this is weird, but I love death. Dying, decay, decomposition, breakdown.. synonyms that sort of warm my heart in a strange kinda way. When I t...
Ep. 238 : Looking At Two Unusual Galls
25 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This passed weekend I was able to go out tracking with folks at Wiijindamaan where I once again notice the Poplar Vagabond Aphid Gall. And last week, ...
Ep. 237 : Turtles of North America With Kyle Horner (and salamander migration mini report back)
11 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Did you know that birds are more closely related to turtles, than turtles are to snakes? I just learned that. Did you know that the scutes on a turtle...
Ep. 235 : Pine Siskins
19 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
I just got home from Algonquin Park. I got the privilege to spend the past week tracking Wolves, Moose, Martens, Grouse, Flying Squirrels, and so man...
Ep. 234 : Courting Behaviours of the Eastern Coyote
29 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s that time of year again, when the animals are getting out and getting down. While driving home the other day I drove past a forest where I ha...
Ep. 233 : On the Fisher Trail
15 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We had just crossed over from the thick White Cedar forest into a little more spacious deciduous forest, when, in a very unassuming tone, a friend cal...
Ep. 232 : Winter Solstice
18 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
s we get ready for the longest night of the year, it’s also a time to celebrate traditions and set our sights for the new year with the rebirth of...
Ep. 231 : Turkey Tail
11 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
You know when there is someone kicking around the party whom you recognize, maybe even say hello to, but you just don’t know that well? Or perhaps y...
Ep. 230 : In Conversation with Lisa Donahue
13 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you didn’t know already, I work at an outdoor school doing place-based, or nature-based education. Through this work I have come to know many peo...
Ep. 229 : A Mushroom Folk Tale
30 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
My room, my house, my bags are all full of books, twigs, fruits, feathers, seeds, nuts, and bits of mushrooms this time of year. So too my stomach, my...
Ep. 228 : Walnut Husk Maggot Fly
23 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Every big mast year for Black Walnuts (Juglans nigra) I like to harvest a ton of them and then process them for both the husks and the nutmeat inside....
Ep. 227 : Honey Dew Eater
09 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A week ago, I got to join the Field Botanists of Ontario on a field trip to the Dufferin County Forest Main Tract site for a mushroom I.D. walk. We...
Ep. 226 : Lichens with Dr. Troy McMullin
02 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Lichens been a draw for me for the last few years. When it comes to a diversity of lifeforms coming together in a fungal structure to draw down nutrie...
Ep. 225 - Walking Stick Insects
18 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Last Thursday a call came over the radio at work. “I just want to let everyone know that there are two Walking Sticks mating on the tent”. I can’...
Ep. 224 : Animal Forms with Miki Tamblyn
04 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Animal Forms is a project is all about empathy, about remembering how to be in connection with the other-than-human world. As Miki asks, “aims to ex...
Ep. 223 : Moth Garden with Lisa Hirmer and Christina Kingsbury
21 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In some circles, reciprocate is the new “sustainable”, a hot word which implies a lot but isn’t always doing what we might imagine. But how can ...
Ep. 222 : Red Mulberry Recovery Program with Sean Fox
31 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A couple of days after my recent interview discussing Mulberries with Matt Soltys, the Arboretum at the University of Guelph shared a couple of posts ...
Ep. 221 : Exploring Water Hemlock
24 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I have had a long curiosity regarding Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata) ever since I had heard of them. Perhaps the most toxic plant on Turtle Island/No...
Ep. 220 : Discussing Serviceberries
10 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.) is a widely distributed edible fruit tree which fills my heart as much as my belly. It’s just sweet enough, with...
Ep 219 : Discussing Mulberries with Matt Soltys
03 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mulberries are a well known and popular wild urban edible that a lot of foragers come to know early in the development of the craft. They are easily i...
Ep. 218 : Considering Chokecherries
29 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the previous post I mentioned that I had been watching a specific Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana, or the Anishnaabemowin name asasawemin) looking a...
Ep. 217 : Controversial Considerations of Non-Native Plant Communities
15 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The car broke down on our way to visit my mum. My brother and I got out of the car, and while he researched how to change the alternator, I went behin...
Ep. 216 : Morel Mushrooms
08 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Lately a lot of folks I know have been finding Morels (Morchella spp.) in and around the city where I live. Possibly one of the most prized edible fun...
Ep. 215 : Of Soras…
24 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I was out with a couple of friends the evening before. We’d been thoroughly engaged listening to the painfully loud calls of the Spring Peepers (Pse...
Ep. 214 : North American Flycatchers with Cin-Ty Lee and Andrew Birch
17 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Cardinals, Blue Jays, Robins, Mourning Doves, Mallards, Black-capped Chickadees. Quite common and familiar birds most folks seem to know. One of the r...
Ep. 213 : Nesting Behaviours of Red-tailed Hawks
10 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) are always exciting to see. However ubiquitous or plentiful they may be on the land, it is always a gift to obser...
Ep. 212 : Voices of the Spring Birds
03 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When you want to get to know someone, you listen to the stories they have to share. We might ask some questions once in a while, but mostly we watch...
Ep. 211 : Fisher Researcher Dr. Scott LaPoint
20 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Recently while tracking a Fisher (Pekania pennanti) in Algonquin Park we encountered a large galloping trail that had a long stride length of 106 cm (...
Ep. 210 : BIPOC Outdoor Gear Library
13 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Over and over on this podcast (and through the blog) I have spoken to the need to be outdoors and the value for us emotionally, physically, spirituall...
Ep. 209 : Tracker Certification North America
06 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tracker Certification North America is an evaluating body in the field of wildlife tracking and trailing, and so much more. They host evaluations whic...
Ep. 208 : Stop Cop City
27 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Cop City is an urban warfare training facility being built on the South side of Atlanta. To construct this sprawling $90 million compound stretching 8...
Ep. 207 : Journey With Our Kin with Dani Kastelein-Longlade and Amina Lalor
30 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dani Kastelein-Longlade and Amina Lalor along with with guest artists Katherine Rae Diemert and Brenda Mabel Reid have created an inspiring and beauti...
Ep. 206 : Pileated Woodpecker Sign
16 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Without much snow so far this winter, my tracking has been shifting towards other sign out on the land. Lately this has been signs on plants, scats, r...
Ep. 205 : Eastern Screech Owl
09 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
I have a big affinity for the suburbs (I know, it’s weird), and the Eastern Screech feels like a suburban bird. They hang out along the riparian cor...
Ep. 204 : Winter Solstice
19 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
“Wither, wither, black flowering night. May your dark juices bleed, burn up like a pool on the summer plain, shrivel like a stain upon sand, dwindle...
Ep. 203 : I’ve Been Thinkin ‘Bout Yew..
12 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It started with a suggestion that I could learn a little about how to differentiate between Canada Yew (Taxus canadensis), Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga cana...
Ep. 202 : Baby Bird Identification with Linda Tuttle-Adams
05 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Many of us have been there. You find a nest, you look inside, and there huddled amid the grasses, vines and twigs are small nearly naked nestlings. Ma...
Ep. 201 : Harvesting for Conservation with Sarah Nilson and Eric Burkhart
28 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
“Fewer ramps per pound means more ramps in the ground”. Ramps? Wild Leeks? Allium tricoccum? Whatever you call them, they are a type species for f...
Ep. 200 : Lessons From A Dead Owl
31 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is a bit of a vulnerable one. I talk about some profound lessons which really impacted me, and shook some of my self image. I also feel a...
Ep. 199 : Death and Decomposers
24 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tis’ the season to be considering the concepts of death and decay. We can smell it in the cool wet woods, and we can see it draped across the doorwa...
Ep. 198 : Understanding Ecopsychology with Memona Hossain
17 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
“One of the things we tend to do culturally, the framework is to separate humans from the earth and to see them as two separate entities, rather the...
Ep. 197 : Sit Spots
10 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It’s easy, pretty accessible and turns out to be a lot of fun and often full of learning. A sit spot, or magic spot, or secret spot or whatever else...
Ep. 196 : Hair Scale Identification Guide to Terrestrial Mammalian Carnivores of Canada with Justin Kestler
26 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After a delay of a week, Justin Kestler and I got to talk about his new book The Hair Scale Identification Guide to Terrestrial Mammalian Carnivores o...
Ep. 195 : Gallformers.org
12 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Gallformers.org has been referred to me by a few friends over the past few months as they helped me to identify some unknown galls I have found in the...
Ep. 194 : Song of the Night ii
05 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
“It was a clear night, and the stars were as visible as they get around this area within the city. I made out Polaris and the Big Dipper earlier whi...
Ep. 193 : Spiders of North America with Sarah Rose
22 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
I am overwhelmed sometimes by the sheer diversity and quantity of Spider species I encounter. So many! I take a ton of photos and bring them up on my ...
Ep. 192 : Daniella Roze on the harm in our work
04 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Daniella Roze lives this stuff. Seriously. She has spent years living off grid in a small community of folks learning how to live in closer connection...
Ep. 191 : Scat Finder with Dorcas Miller
27 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What is scat? Well, in the great words of a creative crew of naturalists*, Starts with “S” and it ends with a “T” It comes out of you and it ...
Ep. 190 : Jenna Rudolph on the harm in our work
13 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jenna Rudolph has been running an nature school on unceded territories on the West coat of the continent. What does it mean to support students in dev...
Ep. 189 : Jessica Reznicek Is Not A Terrorist
23 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On July 24, 2017, Jessica Reznicek admitted to engaging in acts of sabotage to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, a 1,886 km long (1,172 miles) undergro...
Ep. 188 : Ways of Being Alive by Baptiste Morizot
09 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Baptiste Morizot has changed the way I look at the world. He has offered a depth to the nuance of my relationships by giving them words and concepts t...
Ep 187 : Listening to the Spring Frogs and Birds
02 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Every year I bring the recorder out listen to some of the other-than-human animals in our shared spaces. I then come home, dreamily relisten to the re...
Ep. 186 : Squirrel Life Project with Elizabeth Porter
11 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Birdwatching is obviously a thing as birds are everywhere, loud, demonstrate interesting behaviours, and they are often brightly coloured. Squirrels t...
Ep. 185 : In conversation with Lorraine Roy, and Greg Kennedy SJ
28 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
By calling, Greg is a Jesuit priest. Lorraine, a textile artist. Both have a keen eye for observation, and translation. Learning to see the wonder and...
Ep. 184 : Nature Guelph
14 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Nature Guelph was established in 1966 and since then has been promoting connection with the lands in and around the city I now call home. I have been ...
Ep. 183 : Follow The Food
28 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Knowing the plants who are in relationship with the animals we track can help us find the animals we want to learn about. They can point in the direct...
Ep. 182 : Deer Mouse and Song Sparrow
14 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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 th...
Ep. 181 : Buckthorn Phenology and Possible Management Strategies with Mike J. Schuster
31 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
I have seen and been part of a lot of Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) removal efforts, and while initially hopeful, often there is a inevitable return ...
Ep. 180 : Winter of the Fisher
24 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It has been the Winter of the Fisher indeed with long tracking missions following three different Fishers at three locations in Southern Ontario betwe...