A small group of tribal teens hunched over a skull in the woods, peering closely to figure out what kind of animal it’s from.
The skull was a clue provided by Michelle Peziol, a certified wildlife tracker for CyberTracker North America, during an animal track and sign certification course in August held on the Olympic Peninsula. Participants came from the six tribes involved in the Olympic Cougar Project—Quinault, Makah, Lower Elwha Klallam, Jamestown S’Klallam, Port Gamble S’Klallam and Skokomish.
In addition to the skull—identified as a beaver’s, punctured by a zealous predator— the teens examined claw marks on a tree left by a bear, tree bark rubbed away by elk antlers, a variety of scat, half-eaten salmon, and hoof and paw prints.
The goal of bringing teens into the woods and teaching them about signs of animal activity is to help them be comfortable in their backyard and understand who they are sharing it with, Peziol said.
All of the animal signs were found within just a few hundred feet of walking into a forest or along a beach. It doesn’t take long to immediately see animal signs and pick up on who’s been there and what they’ve been doing, Peziol said. She also pushed the teens’ knowledge by asking them if they could tell how new or old a sign was, or which direction the animal was headed.
“We’ve seen bear, we’ve seen otter, we’ve seen mountain lion, we’ve seen raccoon, we’ve seen a herd of elk,” Peziol said. “And not only did we see signs of those animals, but we could tell when they were here.”
This course was part of the collaborative Wildlife Youth Education Program, in which teens and young adults from each tribal partner are selected to learn alongside tribal wildlife biologists about science and working outdoors, said SaraCendejas-Zarelli, one of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe’s wildlife biologists. The idea is not only to plant the seed of potential careers but also expose the youth to traditional knowledge.
“Finding and identifying wildlife sign is a skill that has been lost to much of the modern world and traditionally would have been passed down from generation to generation,” Cendejas-Zarelli said.
“Many of these youth aren’t in the woods exploring as much as prior generations, and we want to help them learn skills that will help them hunt, gather and feel comfortable being in their large backyards.”
Four Quinault youth participated in the first course offering in 2024. They were so enthusiastic that several returned this year to earn a higher level certification and bringing the number of Quinault participants to eight, said Kristen Phillips, the tribe’s wildlife section manager.
“It’s been rewarding to see kids engaged,” she said.
Funding came from a three-year grant awarded to the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe by the Administration for Native Americans, as well as the Quinault Indian Nation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Tribal Youth Initiative, and Panthera, a wild cat conservation nonprofit and partner on the Olympic Cougar Project.
Above: Expert wildlife tracker Michelle Peziol talks with students about animal prints found in the sand at the mouth of the Raft River. Photo: Trevor Pyle. Story by Tiffany Royal and Trevor Pyle
