A few years ago, my wife, her two youngest daughters and I drove part of the way across the country to Yellowstone National Park. This post is not so much a story about Yellowstone (a wonderful experience for all of us), but a story about “wildlife”. In Yellowstone we encountered many animals that we do not see on the East Coast - animals such as wolves, bison, moose and elk. We did not see any wolves or moose on that trip, although we did indeed see bison and elk in abundance on our trip. On a sightseeing bus trip that we took to orient ourselves at Yellowstone, one of the other sightseers told us that Elk were “like squirrels” in the park and in much of the west.
In our neck of the woods white tailed deer probably outnumber squirrels. Still, they are not so tame. Getting really close to a deer is not always the easiest endeavor. Yet, seeing deer, even reasonably close to the car is not an uncommon sight. Photographing them might be JUST A LITTLE more difficult.
This week my wife and I are camping at Shenandoah National Park and are finding that deer are even more common here than they are at home. I suppose that this ought not to be a big surprise as there is no hunting in this park. To avoid habituation to humans, it IS prohibited to feed wild animals at any National Park, including Shenandoah.
Here is an image of a white tailed deer at Big Meadows in Shenandoah National Park. Big Meadows is about half way between the northern and Southern termini of Skyline Drive, the 100 mile drive which is the feature attraction at this park. (My wife and I came more to camp and hike than to drive, but this is still a beautiful way to see this park.)
White Tailed Deer at Big Meadows
Walking around the meadow with the deer grazing around me was pretty amazing. I was able to go about my business photographing them without them even seeming the slightest bit alarmed. My closest approach was probably about 50 yards, and the deer actually wandered by me even closer than that.
Now here is where the squirrel part comes in. Have you ever hand fed squirrels at a park? Well, I have to say that even squirrel teeth that close to my fingers might be a bit uncomfortable to me. Clearly, an animal the size of a deer really ought not to be hand fed. Yet, the deer in the image below was photographed no more than six feet from our vehicle. This animal actually CAME CLOSER to the car when I opened the window. (Any guess WHY they tell us NOT to feed wild animals?). As I photographed this animal it occurred to me that many an ignorant drive by animal feeder might feel these unwitting critters food that would disrupt the easily disturbed ruminant digestive tract. Clearly, these animals really are as common and as tame as squirrels might be in a city park. Also clearly, SOME people MUST be breaking the law and feeding these animals. For shame.
White Tail wanting a handout
Well, that’s it for my break from camping! Today was a rainy day and we drove off the ridge to do some shopping and paid a visit to Panara Bread for coffee and lunch. Off back to the not so wild wilderness!
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