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mtchacora
06-25-2004, 03:14
HI Everyone,
I hiked a few weeks ago in Monson, Maine- part of the 100 mile. There was plenty of bugs, but can anyone tell me where the wildlife is. Sure, we heard a few mice here and there, but no frogs at night, birds in the morning- nothing. It was sort of strange. Were we just in the wronge spots, or is it like that everywhere?


:confused: Thanks for the reply

Lone Wolf
06-25-2004, 07:12
Wildlife? Me and my buddies whacked em and stacked em! Let's eat. :D

Jaybird
06-25-2004, 07:38
the CICADAS & black flies ate 'em all! :D

squirrel bait
06-25-2004, 08:34
Where's the wildlife? It's evidently at my house while I'm at work. :p

MOWGLI
06-25-2004, 08:51
You definitely should have heards lots of bird song in the morning. In Maine, you have a good shot of encountering a Moose, but that is not guaranteed. On the A.T. there is a lot of human traffic. Wildlife (mammals in particular) will often avoid areas with a lot of human traffic. If you brought a dog along, that will really run the wildlife off.

If you want to enounter wildlife along a trail, the Appalachian Trail is really the wrong place. Secondary trails are really a much better way to see wildlife. For instance, I saw more wildlife in 7 days on the Benton Mackaye Trail than I did my first 2 months on the A.T.

Having said that, you could have a newcomer hit the trail and encounter a bocat the first day. That's the thing about wildlife. Ya never know.

Little Bear

shades of blue
06-25-2004, 09:20
As I was hiking into Pearisburg, Va yesterday, I saw four deer, one snake...and a chipmunk. I saw a bear and a cub going up Shuckstack in the Smokies last week, and around six deer and two wild turkeys earlier. Hiking early in the morning, or later in the evening is a good time to see wild life. My 2 cents.

SavageLlama
06-25-2004, 10:32
Most larger animals (bear, moose, deer, owls) are largely crepuscular - meaning they become active at twilight or before sunrise.

In other words, your best chance to spot wildlife on the trail is in the early morning or at dusk.

Staying quiet and being observative are also important.

Youngblood
06-25-2004, 10:51
crepuscular. I wasn't familiar with that word. I like it... can't wait to tell someone that "it was a crepuscular moment"!

Youngblood

Lone Wolf
06-25-2004, 10:54
Crepuscular ain't in the dictionary.

TedB
06-25-2004, 11:28
If you were in the airport one day, and you start hearing gunfire in the distance, and the source of the commotion was coming toward you, you would likely scream and run for your life. By the time the gunmen arrive to where you are at, you would probably be lying motionless not making a sound.

Wildlife reacts much the same way to a hiker. A big commotion is created. Everyone runs for their lives, and then it is silent. The wildlife that is seen is generally the exception to the rule. When you do see wildlife, you often see their rear end as they haul butt to get away from you.

So how do you see more wildlife? Certainly the time of day matters, and the location matters. Learning to minimize your disturbance will also pay off. Often the backpacking mentality (must cover x miles by dinner) is counter productive when trying to see wildlife. You have to slow down to nature's time.

When ever I see wildlife, I try to determine who saw who first. For me, most of the time, the animals see me first. Not always. I once had the opportunity to watch a bobcat hunting rodents. It had no idea I was there. It wasn't until I tried getting closer that it detected my presence. Once it knew I was there, it took off into the brush.

I like the book "Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking" and Jon Young's audio tape "Learning the Language of the Birds". The gunman analogy I used above is borrowed from Jon Young.

Spirit Walker
06-25-2004, 11:29
Your ability to see wildlife depends a lot on you. How quiet are you when you move? (Some hikers stomp like elephants, others talk nonstop or sing as they walk.) Do you camp away from the shelters? Do you hike early in the morning or late in the afternoon? How observant are you? I watched a hiker walk right past a moose who was only about ten yards off the trail. The hiker didn't see it until we called out to him. He had been complaining that he never saw any moose and we had seen a half dozen by then. I wonder why? I've known hikers who always hike with headphones who complained that they never saw any wildlife. Most of the time you become aware of the wildlife because you hear it in the brush. You won't hear it if you have music in your ears, and besides, they will hear you. In Maine I saw a bear and several moose and lots of birds - they are there.

SavageLlama
06-25-2004, 12:46
Crepuscular ain't in the dictionary.
That's because redneck dictionaries don't have big words. :D

try this..
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=crepuscular

mdionne
06-25-2004, 14:21
being a wildlife biologist i thought i'd give my two cents. most biologists agree that birdsongs in the morning depends mostly on the weather conditions, what are the birds doing at the time and what time it is. just because it is morning a bird usually sings because of a certain brightness in the sky. for example, i heard a woodcock displaying at 2:00 in the morning one night because there was an almost full moon and the weather was unseasonably warm. woodcocks almost always display at dusk and in one study we found that they will start at the same light of day every evening. we found this by listening to the display, recording the time they started on consecutive days. we found that the woodcocks usually started one minute later each day. the same as the sun setting a minute later every day. i would have to agree that there is a lot of traffic on the AT as well which would deter any animal. i would also have to agree that most of the time, animals always know that you are entering their territory long before you know they are there. it is those animals that chose to scold the predator that allow you to know they are there. a predator doesn't have much of a chance at surprise when all the birds in the hood are scolding it. i am glad that you did, however, get to experience the wonderful maine black fly season. i always go elsewhere to hike this time of year, the black flies will pick you up and carry you off. oh, about bobcats, they usually know you are there before you are within a mile of them. sightings usually come because the bobcat is curious about what you are doing. hope this helps.

Kerosene
06-28-2004, 08:14
Not quite on topic, but I just walked through the Wallkill Wildlife Refuge just "north" of Unionville, NY on the NY/NJ border. The Trail winds around the Refuge, formerly a sod farm, for about 2 miles. Without even trying I saw birds of almost every color in the rainbow: Red-winged Blackbird, Cardinal (in the woods to the east), only the third Baltimore Oriole I've ever seen, American Goldfinch, Blue Jay (in the woods), a bunch of Indigo Buntings, and many others that I couldn't identify. Great place for birders, with several viewing benches situated along the trail. Just bring your bug spray!

MOWGLI
06-28-2004, 08:23
Not quite on topic, but I just walked through the Wallkill Wildlife Refuge just "north" of Unionville, NY on the NY/NJ border. The Trail winds around the Refuge, formerly a sod farm, for about 2 miles. Without even trying I saw birds of almost every color in the rainbow: Red-winged Blackbird, Cardinal (in the woods to the east), only the third Baltimore Oriole I've ever seen, American Goldfinch, Blue Jay (in the woods), a bunch of Indigo Buntings, and many others that I couldn't identify. Great place for birders, with several viewing benches situated along the trail. Just bring your bug spray!

For anyone who has walked through the Wallkill Refuge prior to 2003, the Feds have recently reengineered the plumbing at the refuge. The sod farmers dug ditches that took water away from the fields. The whole area was recently dug up to restore wetlands. The fields that you might have seen a few years ago are now flooded more regularly.

If you walk through this area in the spring or fall, expect to see large numbers of waterfowl. As I have also said here several times (and will say again) this is the only place on the entire length of the AT where you can see Short Eared Owls, Northern Harriers (aka Marsh Hawks), and Rough Legged Hawks. They all winter here.

FYI up until April 2003 I lived 10 minutes from here and have spent hundreds of hours hiking, photographing, bird watching, and X-Country Skiing at the refuge. It's a gem!

Little Bear

Hikerhead
06-28-2004, 13:56
If you add rubber tips to your poles I can bet that you will see more wildlife.

mdionne
06-28-2004, 15:26
If you add rubber tips to your poles I can bet that you will see more wildlife.


Actually, poles don't matter. your trodding along with or without poles is enough to let them know you are there. if you really want to see wildlife, sit still for a couple of hours. you'll see things most hikers have never seen. :-?

Hikerhead
06-28-2004, 17:58
I agree, if you sit still long enough something might walk by....most hikers aren't going to be doing that so.....if you going to be hiking and you use poles, add rubber tips to them. You'll see more wildlife using rubber tips. I still believe you'll see more wildlife walking than sitting still. Walking alone also helps. Just my opinion..... If I'm going up hill I'm stopping at every white blaze anyway. That's what they're there for, it means to stop and take a break...right? ;)


Actually, poles don't matter. your trodding along with or without poles is enough to let them know you are there. if you really want to see wildlife, sit still for a couple of hours. you'll see things most hikers have never seen. :-?

TedB
06-29-2004, 00:00
One of my favorite wildlife encounters happened while sitting still. A pair of young fawns were wandering through the forest, and happened by the area I was sitting at. They noticed me, but instead of running away, they got closer. They would walk toward me, and the run back a little. They seemed to be daring each other to see who would get the closest. They made it about 10 feet way. It was so much fun to watch such playful animals up close.

Sitting still is a skill, and one I sometimes have trouble with, but I have found the payoff to be well worth the effort. I see no reason why someone can't find time to sit still during a backpacking trip. Heck, I leave my watch at home when I go hiking. I have all the time in the world.

Youngblood
06-29-2004, 07:32
Heck, I leave my watch at home when I go hiking.

Ted, no offense intended but I had to laugh when I read that. I have had three very good hiking buddies that did the same thing. They could be a pain in the arse about wanting to know what time it was, they must have asked what seemed like a dozen times a day. Sometimes I would just toy with them because anytime they saw me look at my watch they wanted to know what time it was and couldn't hardly stand it until I told them. The amazing thing was that sometimes if I wouldn't tell them right away, they would guess... and they were always within 10 minutes. So, I get a chuckle when I see someone who doesn't take a watch because they don't need it and don't care what time it is... brings back old memories, and good ones at that!

Youngblood

SGT Rock
06-29-2004, 08:01
In my experience, the best time to see wildlife is in the early AM, get up with dawn and go hiking. Sure you may get the task of web-breaker, but I see more animals then, and it isn't too warm - sort of like getting free AC on the trail.