Encounters with wildlife/nature

[Bird320]

Have any of you had any encounters with wildlife while out mucking about before? Or maybe even a bad experience with an insect or some plant?

[nachtjaeger]

Well, I was out in a swampy area once, and saw a big black dog run away. Strange- I didn't remember anybody around there owning a big black dog. Then I came upon a footprint- a very fresh one. So fresh, that I watched it fill up with water. It wasn't a dog print, though- it was a bear print.

[bogbud]

I do sometimes hear growling/squealing wild hogs on my way to my pits. Then I stop and listen carefully and try to determine if they are moving away from me or moving in my direction. If the latter is the case I do back off, search a nice location to wait and come back later.
You don't want to surprise them!!

I'm more concerned about bugs and ticks though and do always use lots of repellants.

[Boggy Man]

I have had encounters with wildlife in the past. I have seen bears in the past, but they would run away when they saw me. But, one time when I was biking down a gravel road in the back country, I came across a black bear in the middle of the road beside a large pond, but at a safe distance. It saw me, but wouldn't run away. Instead, it opened its mouth when I tried to bike closer, so I stopped. I tried to scare it by suddenly biking forward, and the bear suddenly made some slight charging motions towards me, just a few bounds. So I stopped, still a safe distance away. I had to get home, but the bear was blocking my path. So, I just waited and waited for it to move so I could continue home. Then, the bear went "Uh!, uh!, uh!", and then a couple of cubs ran out of the bushes to join her on the road. I immediately put my head down and backed away even further, and they disappeared into the bushes on the other side of the road, with the bear going "Uh!, uh!, uh!". So, it was a mother with cubs! No wonder it was standing its ground in the middle of the road while they would normally disappear at the sight of a human!

I have seen other bears, including one running parallel through the bushes before vanishing. There is one area I used to frequent, which I called the Edwin Lakes area, where I used to have a mudpit that required a lot of maintenance in the spring to soften it up. That area is the home to a brown bear which I would see from time to time. Once, while heading up the road, I saw it (probably) feeding on a bush close to the road. Not wanting to surprise it, I stayed at a safe distance, and clapped my hands. It stood up, ears pricked, and saw me. Then, it turned around, and headed off across the clearing, stopping to look back at me. I clapped my hands again, and it disappeared into the forest.

Another time, after I parked my bike in the bushes by my Edwin Lakes area pond in the morning, I had a snack before heading down to the pond for my sink. I kept hearing rustling sounds in the bushes, and I hoped it was just some animal, and not a human. Later, when I returned to my bike to have lunch and head to another area, I discovered that my lunch had been pulled out of my saddlebag, and everything eaten, leaving bags and plastic wrap scattered around the area! Looked like a bear had gotten into my stuff! That day, I went on the rest of my outing and sinking, feeling very weak and drained, since I was spending the entire day of active cycling and hiking through the backcountry and sinking, with only breakfast that morning to sustain me. But, at least it didn't touch my drinks. Since then, I took my lunch with me whenever I went to that area, so there would be nothing in the saddlebag for the bear to eat.

I have seen moose a number of times as well. Once, years ago, southwest of Kamloops, I was hiking through a large meadow, and came across this large moose. It growled at me, so I made a very wide circle around it. I have seen a cow moose run away with two calves jumping into the water and swimming after her, baying.

When I used to go to the Harris Creek slide area to sink into quicksilt, I maintained a hole which I would have to fill with water for cleanup (the water in the area was ice cold because it was either from the creek, or from shaded pools), which warmed up nicely in the sun. Sometimes it would already have water in it. One time, when I was at the top of the cliff, I looked down, and there were two young moose around my "cleanup basin", drinking, possibly munching at some weeds in the water, and I saw one claw at the hole as well.

Another time, I was hiking through the bushes near a stream, near a road, and heard some strange sounds, like an animal was groaning, and plopping sounds like struggling in mud. When I went to investigate, I saw a Hereford cow walk by (lots of free range cattle in the back country), followed by a bull moose that was going "MMMMMooooooUhhh! Uhhh! Uhhh!" That moose was trying to court it!

I have also sat beside a small lake above Harris Creek and watched a moose on a nearby shore eating the grass along the edge.

Leeches are something that I often encountered, especially at my Crescent Road pond, and they scrape right off easily with my fingernail. I usually inspect myself to make certain I don't have any blood-sucking hitchhikers on me before heading home. But, one day, after getting home, I discovered that my undershorts had a large patch of blood in it, and around my private parts was a dead leech, shriveled up to the consistency of beef jerky (it had its last meal). Luckily, my parents weren't home at the time, so I was able to get it partially cleaned off, and when my mom did the wash, I snuck it into the washing machine without her knowing.

I have been stung by wasps in the back country as well. Yellow jackets are the most painful, followed by the bald-faced hornet (looks like a large yellow jacket, but with grey instead of yellow), and then the paper wasp. I would have to make a wide circle around the wasp nests that I encounter, which are also found in the willows.

At my Crescent Road pond, near where I parked my bike, I watched two squirrels chasing each other (I think one invaded the other's territory). I thought about taking a video of them, but decided not to. They then ran between my legs and vanished into the bushes.

While showing Dave and company around during a recon, we disturbed a deer fawn that leaped out of the grass and ran across the meadow, baying. That was after checking out a nearby beaver pond with low water and lots of exposed mud, including a spot with these prints that looked rather fresh:



Other than that, just the usual suspects, mosquitoes in the shade, and blackflies, deerflies, noseeums and horseflies in the sun, a fly for every occasion! The noseeums (I think they may be midges?) are tiny, and you don't know that you have been bitten until you see a drop of blood on your skin (they sure can make you bleed for such a tiny fly). When you wipe the blood off, it reveals a red spot that you have to refrain from scratching, because as soon as you scratch, it starts to itch and become a welt, and the more you scratch, the worse it itches, until you wind up scratching the skin off the welt, making it itch and burn as well! Fortunately, those flies are only around early in the season, and disappear by mid to late summer.

[drnooom]

My last sink of our summer down under I came across a kangaroo munching on something right near my spot. It didnt seem to mind me comeing quite close as I made my way over to my mudhole.

[Kinky Desires]

I'll always remember that outtake that Mike posted from one of his scenes with Ludella when a frog showed up and she said "stop mocking me frog, I'm gonna get outta this..."

[joedeep130535]

Have been seen by (roe) deer when in a claypit-it barked at me! Had an encounter with a large,black ,dog when halfway through a naked session .Fortunately it barked & left Spent a long & delightful evening in a gravel pit only to discover I had been bitten severely by small ,black,flies Took a bit of explaining why I was so well gnawed on face & neck!
The wildlife I would really like to see when sinking would be 18 yrs plus,female & inquisitive!!!

[Fred588]

Partial list of critters observed at Studio 588 over the years:

Mammals

deer, mouse, raccoon, skunk, possum, black bear, coyote, feral dog, feral housecat, rat, squirrel.

Birds

too numerous to list

Other

lizard, bullfrog, treefrog, rattlesnake, blacksnake, copperhead, box turtle

Insects too numerous to believe

One sort of hovering bee-like thing suspected of being a drone from the competition (lol).

[dlodoski]

....Mammals

deer, mouse, raccoon, skunk, possum, black bear, coyote, feral dog, feral housecat, rat, squirrel.....

Several target practice opportunities here. Hehe

Camp MPV sports: Deer, Rabbits, Possum, Armadillo, Gophers/Ground Hogs, Skunk, Beaver, Coyote, Raccoon, Turkey, and all sorts of critters in the creeks and ponds. These are all visually abundant, but actual encounters while shooting are pretty much non-existent.

And, I doubt I will ever forget the fawn that we flushed while scouting with BoggyMan. Beautiful little creature that waited instinctively until we were literally on top of it before it bolted.

[MadMax359]

Partial list of critters observed at Studio 588 over the years:

Mammals

deer, mouse, raccoon, skunk, possum, black bear, coyote, feral dog, feral housecat, rat, squirrel.

Birds

too numerous to list

Other

lizard, bullfrog, treefrog, rattlesnake, blacksnake, copperhead, box turtle

Insects too numerous to believe

One sort of hovering bee-like thing suspected of being a drone from the competition (lol).

i seem to recall one shoot you did, was it Natalie Minx that really hated the bugs?