New Website!!

Vildmarksguiden now has a new website and web address.

New site:
www.wildernesssweden.com


Bye for now

Vildmarksguiden

Fjälledare Sommar & Vinter / Mountain Leader Summer & Winter

After waiting 2 years to get my experience validated i now hold the Swedish Mountain Leader Certificate for Summer and winter, or Fjälledare as its called here.

To lead groups in Swedens mountains you dont officially need any special certificate, but what the Fjälledare certificate shows is that I have at least the minimum requirements for experience and mountain skills needed to professionally lead groups in Swedens mountains during summer and winter.

Swedish consumer law states that services such as guiding people in the mountains should be a safe product and risks to customer safety should be minimised. This is where having the Fjälledare certificate is very important and any professional mountain leader should have it.

So to sum things up, welcome to Swedens mountains! Vildmarksguiden can guide trips that suit your experience, skill levels and goals.

See you in the mountains!

Alistair McCann- Vildmarksguiden
www.vildguide.com

Vildmarksguiden March Update

Hi!

Winter is nearing its end even if it doesnt look that way out the window today and that means that we can start looking forward to the coming spring, summer and autumn seasons.

The winters Wolf tracking has been very interesting. What we've been able to see over the winter is that we now have two packs of Wolves in the area where we have our Moose & Wildlife Safaris. During previous years Wolf activity has mostly been confined to the edges of this area. This will add another exciting dimension to the safari where the chances of seeing tracks and hearing Wolves howl greatly increases. As with any of the large predators in Sweden Wolves are very shy, so chances of seeing one are very small, but there is still a chance. This is what makes safaris so interesting, you never really know what you're going to see!

One of the packs, called Bålen, contains a Wolf which is genetically very important for the Swedish population. At the moment there are just two Wolves in that pack, a male and a female. During February we have been able to see that the female was in heat (ready to mate), this means that there are good chances of them having pups this spring.

The other pack in the area, called Brattfors, is larger. This winter we have tracked 5 individuals from this pack on a number of occasions. We also hope that this pack will have pups this year too.

New for this year is a selection of activities based around wildlife and nature photography. You can hire a photo hide for the night, go on a photography walk and travel around Värmland on a landscape photo safari. See our new broschure for more information:
http://issuu.com/vildmarksguiden/docs/vildmarksguiden_catalogue_2012?mode=window&backgroundColor#222222"

For more up to date information follow us on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vildmarksguiden/160532594005832"

See you in Värmland!
Vildmarksguiden

New Catalogue for 2012

We've just released our new catalogue for 2012 with some new wild experiences!

Take a look here:
http://issuu.com/vildmarksguiden/docs/vildmarksguiden_catalogue_2012?mode=window&backgroundColor#222222"

Get in touch for more information and booking.

+46 (0)550 41 19 12
info@vildguide.com

New Photo Website

Being out and about so much I get lots of chances to endulge in one of my other passions, photography. So I decided to start a site to show some of my better pictures.

Its work in progress, but I hope you like it!

http://www.wix.com/amcc_sco/amphoto#!"

Wolf poo and other things

Was out in the forests of eastern Värmland today to do some scouting about before winter arrives. Mainly checking what condition the roads and forest are in. Another objective it to check out whos around in the forest and the main interest before the winter season is Wolves. What we're looking for is evidence that they have been there, such as big steaming piles of faeces on the road etc. Strange that a pile of faeces can be so interesting!

Normally you might just see a little faeces or tracks in the mud nothing more, but today was different, today we hit the jackpot. There was lots of faeces of two different ages and food sources, a territorial marking and tracks in the mud. All at the same place and just 1-2 days old.

Heres some pictures of what we found:


















Wolf tracks on mud. Had just walked over some dry sand before walking over the mud. Note the size of the tracks which you measure from heel to toe.




















2m measure next to a series of Wolf tracks. This is where we measure the length of the stride. Another way of seeing what sort of animal it is or if it was just a large dog. The walking stride here is roughly 120cm, quite normal for a Wolf.





















This is a territorial marking where the Wolf has urinated on a small tree and then scraped the ground with its claws. Bit hard too see but its inside the white borders .















And heres the Wolf faeces picture. Its a fair pile much larger than a dog would do and looks very different. This faeces has a dark colour, typical for when the Wolves have been eating fresh meat and blood, so they must have made a kill nearby. Wolves also eat old rotten carcasses, the faeces has a grey colour then. Wolves have strong bacteria in their digestive system which helps them digest difficult meals.

Are you interested in learning more about tracking Wolves and other wildlife and want to experience Swedens beautiful winter landscape then book our Wolf tracking safari or experience (also available as a course) this winter.


See you in Värmland this winter!

Vildmarksguiden
www.vildguide.com

Product Flyers for winter 2011-2012 Season

Heres this winters product flyers in Swedish and English. Would you like some copies let us know and we'll post them to you or send them as a pdf.
E-mial: info@vildguide.com