• Offers expert instruction and in-the-field advice for the novice and experienced tracker

Tracking wildlife successfully requires more than just looking for trails and scat. It requires an awareness of how an animal behaves in its environment--how it finds food, travels, and rests. A tracker must know how to find and interpret behavioral clues animals leave behind. This how-to book teaches the basics of being a successful tracker--explaining what to look for to find or identify an animal and how to develop an essential environmental awareness. Also describes aging tracks and sign, understanding ecology and mapping, keeping field notes, using track tools, and making casts.

"Jon Young knows birds, and you will too after reading his marvelous book. You'll discover a universal bird language that will speak to you wherever you go outdoors. Every nature lover should read this book."--Joseph Cornell, author of "Sharing Nature with Children" and "John Muir: My Life with Nature"
A lifelong birder, tracker, and naturalist, Jon Young is guided by three basic premises: the robin, junco, and other songbirds know everything important about their environment, be it backyard or forest; by tuning in to their vocalizations and behavior, we can acquire much of this wisdom for our own pleasure and benefit; and the birds' companion calls and warning alarms are just as important as their songs. Deep bird language is an ancient discipline, perfected by Native peoples the world over, and science is finally catching up. This groundbreaking book unites the indigenous knowledge, the latest research, and the author's own experience of four decades in the field to lead us toward a deeper connection to the animals and, in the end, a deeper connection to ourselves.
"Jon Young is one of the heroes of the new nature movement . . . This elegant book will deepen the kinship between humans and other species. It decodes our common language."--Richard Louv, author of "The Nature Principle" and "Last Child in the Woods"
"A brilliant work, born of a lifetime of listening, teaching, and tracking what really matters . . . Jon Young's work replenishes our humanity."--David Abram, author of "Becoming Animal" and "The Spell of the Sensuous"

TV survival shows and survival schools are more popular than ever; Paleo diets are proving to be more than just a passing trend; and free-range parenting is gaining steady momentum. So in an age when living in a modern society often equates to comfort and ease, why is it that we are so interested in these primal aspects of being human whey they are no long really necessary? Why are we still so fascinated with making fire or stone tools in this social media-driven digital age? Why are we urging our children to run back out into the wild? The answer to all of these questions-to why we seek out the natural world-stares us in the mirror every day: We long to fulfill our natural destiny as upright-walking hunger-gatherer-nomads. It's who we are. Primal explores the natural human desire-the primal desire-to fulfill our original design. From the telling of anecdotes and stories from author Nate Summer's twenty years as a survival specialist to conversations with world-renown survival and human nature specialists to digging into the rewilding and free-range parenting trends, Nate explores how humans have-and continue to-pursue "survival" situations to fulfill their deep, soulful longings.