Wildlife Viewing

“Where do I go to find a bear? A moose? A bighorn sheep?”

While working at a visitor center, those are some of my least favorite questions. A wildlife refuge or a park is not a zoo. Some locations may be more likely to produce an animal for observation, but there are no guarantees. And there are no cages. Animals are free to roam as they desire and may cover miles in a day.

“Well, you have them radio collared, don’t you?” asked one visitor to a refuge. “Isn’t that how you can find them for us?”

Most people know that radio collars are not designed to aid the public in locating animals, but rather serve researchers and biologists as a way to monitor an animal’s activities and whereabouts. I often tell visitors where we have seen certain animals on recent forays into the park or refuge, but follow this information with the likelihood that the animals have moved on by now.

Part of the Excitement

Most visitors recognize that they may or may not see wildlife. Part of the excitement, they know, is in the search. While we can make suggestions of where to look and what to look for, ultimately luck plays a huge part in their hunt. And when one person spots a desired animal, others stop to check it out as well, sometimes creating a “critter jam.”

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Generally, we bypass critter jams and search for animals elsewhere, whether it’s driving a remote dirt road or hiking a lesser known trail. Merely sitting in one place on the trail or in the car occasionally produces results as an animal or herd may walk by foraging and pay no attention to us. For us, the thrill is having a sighting all to ourselves, or at least sharing it with few others.

Best Viewing Times

Vacationers, however, are anxious to see all they can in their limited visit to a refuge or a park. The best viewing times are early morning or after dinner, times that many tourists value for themselves. For those willing to rise early or explore at dusk, animal sightings can be their reward. And for those willing to sit patiently and wait for wildlife to emerge, occasionally they catch a glimpse of passing critters.

Close to Home

On the other hand, perhaps some of the best viewing takes place outside one’s motel room. Some visitors have reported moose or deer meandering by their windows or close to their decks.  Recently, friends visiting us made reservations at a nearby inn and stayed in a small log cabin with a porch facing a stream that ran through the compound. “Bird watching was wonderful!” they proclaimed as they spent their afternoons sitting on the porch reading and viewing wildlife.

That reminded us of a trip we took to Australia with a group from the Denver Zoo several years ago. To maximize our wildlife opportunities, Chuck and I signed up for a guided 14-mile hike through remote forest near our resort. We expected great wildlife viewing, but in reality all we ended up seeing was a spider resting on a leaf. When we returned to our cabin, exhausted and sore, we were greeted by the older couple next door who had remained on their porch all day drinking tea and a beer or two.

“We saw an echidna!” they beamed. “And there were kangaroos all around! And we even saw a king brown snake!” They continued listing several other sightings, all within the view of their comfy porch chairs.

So wildlife will be where it wants to be. Maybe even be off your own back porch.

 

2 thoughts on “Wildlife Viewing”

    • Thanks for your comment! It doesn’t matter if you’re in the cloud forest of Costa Rica or the suburbs of Philadelphia, there’s always some wildlife activity happening before your eyes. You just need to open those eyes, sometimes wider than others to observe and appreciate what’s happening. Not all wildlife observations consist of the large “textbook-type” animals we seek, but it is rewarding to see all that’s out there, large or small!

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