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<!-- Font Tag --><B><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#660000">Wild, Wild Wildlife</FONT></B>
<HR SIZE="3">
<P>
<FONT SIZE="4"><B>Wildlife-Watching Tips</B></FONT>
<P>
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.
<P>
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.
<UL>
<LI><B>Keep silent.</B> 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.
<P>
<LI><B>Get out early.</B> Many wildlife species are crepuscular—more active
during the low-light hours of morning and evening. 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.
<P>
<LI><B>Stay out late.</B> 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 raccoons.
<P>
<LI><B>Don’t quit in the middle of the day.</B> Although things seem to
quiet down in the heat of the day, some species are still active. Keep
your guard up.
<P>
<LI><B>Be ready.</B> 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.
<P>
<LI><B>Scan the shadows.</B> 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.
<P>
<LI><B>Think like an animal.</B> 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.
<P>
<LI><B>Look behind you.</B> 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.
<P>
<LI><B>Look up.</B> 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.
<P>
<LI><B>Look down.</B> Beavers and otters can sometimes be seen not on the
riverbank but right in the water.
<P>
<LI><B>Learn the signs.</B> 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.
<P>
<LI><B>Field guides.</B> 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.
</UL>
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<CENTER><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#996633">© 1996 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.<BR><BR>www.nationalgeographic.com</FONT></CENTER>
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