The Woolly Compass
On exposed hillsides, sheep take shelter behind gorse bushes. Over time this kills the lowest branches, creates patches of bare earth and pieces of straggling…
Tag: Animal Behaviour
The Search for Boar Wallows
A Guest Blog by Chantal Lyons, author of Groundbreakers: The Wild Boar’s Return to Britain. It took me five months to find. The boar were…
What is a Plucking Post?
A plucking post is an elevated area used by birds of prey, and occasionally other animals, to pluck and feed on their recent prey. All…
Urban Fox Signs
My thanks to everyone who came to my talk at the Cruising Association last week. For news about upcoming talks, please subscribe to my free…
Ants Build Landmarks
Humans are so accustomed to using landmarks that we usually don’t even realise when we are doing it. “Turn left at the post office.” “Meet…
The Meaning of Spines on Holly Leaves
Spines on holly leaves are a defensive tactic. The harder a plant is trying to defend itself, the more spines we find on its leaves.…
How to Find Your Way Using Horse Dung
For thousands of years humans have been riding horses (possibly as much as 5,500 years). This of course means that horse tracks and dung can…
Why Do Animals Stop Moving and Freeze?
This morning I was walking into wind and surprised a deer. After a couple of quick hops away it then froze and stood motionless. This…
Predicting Animal Behaviour
It is much easier to predict animal behaviour when we learn certain simple patterns. Most animals see the world in terms of basic things like:…
Analysing Deer Behaviour: Flight, Refuge and Jink
I was looking over one of the local hills from the cover of some undergrowth, when I spooked a herd of fallow deer. They were…
Animal Weather Signs in Montana
My thanks to Dean for this very interesting pair of emails from dry cow country, Montana, USA: Tristan, I’m getting to the last fifty pages…
How to See Wildlife in Woodlands
The key to seeing wildlife anywhere isn’t magic, it’s understanding probabilities. There are so many techniques for improving your chances, many of them listed in…
Finding Direction through Bird Nests in Termite Mounds
A guest blog post from Brazil, by Pedro and Gersony C.Jovchelevich. Termites are insects belonging to the order Isoptera, also known here in Brazil as…
The Meaning of Missing Moss
Moss is important in natural navigation, but not the quick easy method that many seem to think. I’ve written about the challenge of using moss…
Fallow Deer Flight and Refuge Behaviour
My latest book, Wild Signs and Star Paths, explains how it is possible to predict an animal’s next move. By following a simple stepping-stone approach,…
Wild Signs and Star Paths
52 Keys that Will Open Your Eyes, Ears and Mind to the World Around You 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 Published in North America as The Nature Instinct ‘Beautifully written……
Raven Wisdom
A guest blog post today, which is a wonderful email I received from Paul at Bushcraft Canada: Hi Tristan Just read your new book and…