How to behave outdoors – sounds silly doesn’t it? And yet I see signs of misbehavior no matter where I go. It ranges from something as simple as littering to disturbing wildlife and destroying habitat.
Let’s look at animals, since that’s my first love in life.
Many people believe that if a baby fawn is found curled up alone, so common in spring and early summer, that the mother abandoned it. Not so. Those does leave the baby in a safe place, and tell it to stay no matter what. It’s safer for a fawn to be hidden and not move than to have a predator chase it. Baby would lose. But to hunker down and sink into the ground with all those spots to make it blend in is the best protection. And yet how many fawns are taken away each year to a rehab center, or, worse yet, but a person trying to raise it as a pet.
Or birds
The best advice I can give, especially if you are trying to photograph them, is to stay a good distance away. Use a telephoto lens instead of moving up to the nest. Right now babies birds are almost ready to fledge, and just walking up to a nest to peek in can cause panic, and they try to escape by fluttering off in all directions, maybe before they are ready.
If a baby bird has fallen from a nest, and you can reach the nest, put it back. Birds do not have a great sense of smell, and the parents will not reject it, as many people fear. If the nest is out of reach, leave the baby in a safe place, or right where it is. Mom and dad are not far away and they will continue to care for it.
And related to birds, no littering in the wild is permissible, but things like the plastic rings off 6 packs hold a danger of being caught around the head, body or feet of birds and other wild creatures. And don’t feed them white bread. It’s not great for humans and holds no nutritional value for birds either.
There are a myriad of creatures in nature, and everything has a place an a purpose, whether it’s a moth flying around, or a snake on the ground. It should be our personal goal to create safe havens for native species of all kinds.
Bird & animal behavior and Imprinting
One of the worst things to do is raise a wild animal alone, with people only. Animals and birds go through crucial behavioral developmental stages, and this is when they learn to be what they are. Without a parent or other members of their species, the learn, in essence how to associate with people, and not their own kind. They will never mate, never learn to forage on their own, they can’t communicate, and often can never survive on their own. Having wild animals imprinted on humans is never a good thing. And when it happens, they still are not domesticated birds or animals.
Have you ever heard of people being attacked by a screech owl, for example? Most likely it is imprinted on people, raised by a good hearted person who turned it loose because it grew up. But this bird doesn’t know how to be a bird, and will attack or fly at people – because it has a psychological disorder now and can’t be a bird.
The same thing can happen with a fawn, or bear cub, or bobcat kit. When a baby is truly abandoned, left alone for several days without a parent around, the best thing to do is find a licensed rehabilitator. They have the knowledge and license to raise wildlife. Trained rehabbers know how to do it right, and often have several other animals of the same species, to keep babies from imprinting on humans, so they learn to be what they are supposed to be. And the animals will be safe to return to the wild and still survive.
In the Forest
How careful are you when you tramp through the woods? I mean other than hunting, and being careful not to step on twigs. Often right underfoot are tender plants, mosses, mushrooms and flowers native to the area, and some of them are endangered. Take the wild Pink Lady Slipper flower ( moccasin flower) , an orchid – it’s fairly common, and while not officially protected, it takes years to propagate itself, and it relies on fungus in the soil to reproduce. It takes years to start and grow a new plant. They are so lovely to look at, and I hate to disturb them. It’s way to easy to wipe out a lady slipper area by trying to move them to a garden or step on and crush the plant.
Walking is the least invasive path in the woods. Riding a bike off a path, or dirt bike or four-wheeler/ ATV (all-terrain vehicle) through the woods is much more invasive and destructive to wild habitats. These things are best used on trails established for the purpose of motorized vehicles.
Grasslands
Even swamps and grasslands (often called prairies or savannas) have plants native to each part of the earth. When a foreign plant is introduced it can become very invasive, and literally pushed out the native grasses and other plants that may have grown in the area for hundreds of years. Things the purple loose-strife plants, native to Europe and Asia but brought to the USA in cargo ship ballasts into Lake Ontario – and it is all over the northeast in wetlands, pushing out native plants, and has spread throughout most of the United States.
The Great Plains of the central part of the United States and the Southern savannahs were once covered by native grasses that fed antelope and bison by the hundreds of thousands, as was much of the Southeast. As farmers plowed and planted traditional farming grasses, native grasses quietly slipped away. Those grasses were fire resistant, drought resistant, and sustained native animals. So the animals started to disappear as well.
After 2 centuries now, biologists are learning just how important those grasses were. There are movements underway by universities, the Audubon Society, the US Forest Service, the World Wildlife Organization and many other partnerships to protect and bring back native grassland areas. Large areas are starting to be set aside, no longer farmed traditionally, to return part of our country back to what it was.
My words of wisdom on this topic are
Endangered habitats in the wild exist all over the world…maybe it’s tiny lichens in the arctic areas or high up on the Rocky Mountains. Rain forests in South America. Forests clear cut to make way for gas lines or housing developments. Think local though, and what you can do.
When you are out enjoying nature, do what you can to protect what’s there, and leave no trace of yourself. Respect nature. Make sure it’s there to come back to again and again. Use safe practices to start a fire, if you must, to avoid and accidental wildfire. Don’t leave any trash behind, not even a Kleenex. Do not pour out anything that can contaminate water or soil.
And the next time you visit the same exact spot, you can think to yourself “It’s like being here for the first time”.
