Wildlife-Watching Tips

In the darkest hour of the night, owls are calling softly from the branches, moose are bedded down in the deep timber, foxes are prowling the riverbank. Under the hottest summer sun, rattlesnakes are coiled up in the shade under rocks. In the soft light of evening, a herd of bighorn is clamoring down the rocks toward the creek for water. In the rain a black bear shakes off the water and ambles toward a berry patch.

No matter what time of day, what season, or what the weather, wildlife-viewing opportunities abound along the river. The land is alive. Still, successful wildlife watching requires some information, some planning, the right equipment, and at least a little bit of luck.

  • Keep silent. Sound travels far over the water. Keep your voice low when you’re looking for wildlife, and keep all noise to a minimum. If you can stay quiet, floating silently on a river can be a great way to approach wildlife.

  • Get out early. Many wildlife species are more active during the low-light hours of morning. Getting out on the river early gives you the best chance to see deer moving back into the trees after a night of feeding along the riverbank or a black bear that’s been digging for insects and grubs on a hillside during the darkness.

  • Stay out late. For the same reasons that getting up early increases your chances of spotting wildlife, staying up late allows you to see other wildlife species as they prepare to come out in the darkness. Most of the world’s wild species are nocturnal. The night is alive with wildlife. A flashlight with a sheet of red plastic over the lens can often get you glimpses of nocturnal wildlife seldom seen, such as flying squirrels, foxes, mink, and raccoon.

  • Don’t quit in the middle of the day. Although things seem to quiet down in the heat of the day, some species are still active. Keep your guard up.

  • Be ready. On quiet water, keep your binoculars handy when there’s no danger of having them knocked overboard. Always wear the neck strap to keep them secure. Practice quick focusing so you’ll have the best chance of finding wildlife quickly in the scope when it appears. Many river guides carry a spotting scope. Although difficult to use in a moving raft, it can be set up at lunch stops or at camp for wildlife watching.

  • Scan the shadows. Sometimes you’ll catch wildlife out in the open, on a beach or hillside, but you’ll increase your chances if you scan the less obvious places as well. Search the shadows for the outline of elk, deer, or moose antlers. Look under branches for a resting coyote. Look carefully. Many species stay alive by being difficult for predators to spot. Look, look, and look again.

  • Think like an animal. If you were an elk on a hot day, would you be out on a gravel bar in the direct sun or in the shade of a cool side stream? If you were a bighorn sheep, would you come to water on a big sandbar with no nearby cover or along a secluded cliff where you could quickly climb to safety if you had to? If you were a bear, would you be on a rocky, barren hillside or in a thick patch of berries? Knowing an animal’s habits and habitats will increase your chance of spotting wildlife.

  • Look behind you. Wildlife may hide as they see you coming, and then, when you pass, slip back out to the beach or riverside to continue feeding or watering.

  • Look up. In the summer bighorn sheep, mountain goats, caribou, and other species can often be seen high on hillsides along rivers. There, in the high places, they find food, cover, and windy places that keep the bugs at bay.

  • Look down. Beavers and otters can sometimes be seen not on the riverbank but right in the water.

  • Learn the signs. Tracks are an animal’s signature on the landscape. Riverbanks, because of the wet mud and sand, are a great place to search for tracks. Bring along a good track guide. And there are other signs of wildlife to look for—day beds where the grass has been flattened by resting deer, trees clawed by black bears or grizzlies, burrows, fish heads left by otters on riverside rocks, beaver dams or lodges on side creeks, scat (animal droppings that can be clues to what an animal eats), strands of fur snagged on riverside branches. Mounds of vegetation piled among rocks in the high country could be signs of pikas. Husks below a ponderosa pine could be evidence of red squirrels. Diggings on a hillside could be from a bear searching for food. To the knowledgeable wildlife watcher, the landscape is an open book waiting to be read.

  • Field guides. Take along a good field guide keyed to the area you’re traveling through. But when you spot an animal, spend your time looking at the animal, enjoying it. There will be plenty of time to turn to the field guide after the animal is no longer in sight.

 
 
 
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