When a Wild Animal Acknowledges Your Existence
You're having coffee, and that little bird on the feeder turns it's head, and looks you straight in the eye. For a moment you share eye contact with your wild feathered friend. A feeling you get makes you smile, if only for a moment. Suddenly, the moment is gone. Did you share something special with that wild creature? Did he make think of things much larger than our selfish pleasures; what did you learn?
When a wild animal acknowledges your existence, and doesn't crawl, run or fly away in a burst of fear, I feel something deep inside. It changes me in some small way, and I think how lucky I am to live in such a world as this. Whether it's that deer in your yard, or the one you saw in the park, when you've made eye contact with that wild animal, did your thoughts suddenly change? Mine always seems to stop, if only for a moment. Did I share something, or am I daydreaming again?
Living in a wild place like the Wind River Canyon has it's weird advantages. Good phone
service is still nonexistent, and you don't get mail or your garbage picked up at the curb (there is no curb). But, throughout the year I come face to face with a myriad of wild creatures. And yes, a few would like to bite me. Then, every once in a while a wild animal and I come face to face. We make eye contact, and in the case of a certain buck deer it lasts for minutes on end.
Those long moments I've shared with one of our big buck deer have been nothing short of magical. He's so curious, and even comes closer and closer to me. We look each other over and time seems to stop in the canyon. It's an excitement that calms me and makes me think deep thoughts; yes, just like the Scarecrow. His photographs are on my website, here is just one. One time, when I hadn't seen him in quite a while, there he was looking at me through the big glass door! I went out for a visit.
I'm an award-winning Hummingbird Fanatic photographer, and my year revolves around the coming and going of these amazing birds. Wyoming Hummingbirds are my specialty, and we have four nesting species here in the Wind River Canyon. Dedicating sixteen years to our hummingbirds has been a labor of love. And there are always those moments with these highly curious birds that can change a person forever.
Every summer in the canyon the Rufous and Black-chinned Hummingbird males will come right up to say hello. Early in the season they will buzz right up to me while I'm cradling a camera. They look me over, up and down, and we make eye contact. At times they seem to search me out if I'm not close to a nectar feeder, and this has happened to others that visit here. The curiosity of the female hummingbirds in the Wind River Canyon is legendary; friends have left here speechless in the summer.
When a hummingbird is mere inches from your nose, and they turn to look you straight in the eye, something magical happens. To me it feels like some kind of electric current. A shot to the heart, if I can use that song title. It feels different when that four inch flying jewel turns and looks you in the eye; it can change a person, I've seen it happen.
As time stands still, you visit with this smallest of all the birds in America. What exactly has transpired? Should I even question or search for answers? Or as an old Indian friend told me, "Just accept this gift, and don't drive yourself crazy looking for something more." The first time a Bald Eagle looked me straight in my eye I almost fainted! With the hummingbirds it's more of a calming of your emotions. They seem to have an effect of calming your nerves, as grandma would have said.
The Bighorn Sheep that visit the Wind River Canyon will sometimes look you straight in the eye. They don't search out people the way our hummingbirds do, but I've had some fleeting moments that will live with me forever. I'm speaking of the Albino Bighorn Sheep that used to live in this area. I'd spent more than twenty-five hours with him over his time here, before he was shot and killed by a dumb hunter that had to kill the unicorn.
A few wild animals of the wilderness you may not want to come eye to eye with. The Grizzly and the Rattlesnake come to mind immediately. These meetings don't always come off well, and even if they don't, why risk it. The famous conservationist John Muir wrote about his first meeting with a Yosemite Grizzly. It's very funny reading and I highly recommend taking the time to read this hilarious account, with a wild animal long gone from that very popular National Park; you can download free copies from the jungle store.
The sad part is many wild animals of the forest are scared of humans, and they have every right to be. Many have been hunted or poisoned to extinction, and continue to be. The highly intelligent Magpie of Wyoming is an example. They had a bounty on them in the 20th Century (a pair of their feet got a kid a thin dime). For those readers of a certain age, a dime could get you a good loaf of bread, or a load of candy and some more bullets. They're frightened of humans now, and people still hate them. Yet, they're frighteningly intelligent, and Northern Europeans keep them as cherished pets. I've made friends with the Black-billed Magpies that live here in the canyon; it's the only bird that never flies into a window here in the Wind River Canyon! Our hummingbirds don't either, but I've seen photographs in Audubon of those that do, in other locales.
I'll leave you with a chance to have eye contact with the rarest of all the animals of the Earth. He was one a kind, one in a million as it were. I chased him and his running mates for hours on end, and still grab a camera when Bighorns are near. Most birds fly away, but the Bighorn Sheep that visit the canyon are afraid of nothing in particular. They want to tell me something, I can sense it. I just don't know what they're trying to tell us; do you know?
Wind River Canyon Blog & all Photographs by Michael John Balog - Hogbats Photography - Wind River Canyon, Wyoming.
For taking time out of your day to read my labor of love.....thank you.
MjB