Viewing entries tagged
desert
The Bobcat
I shared, recently, that this has been an unusual and somewhat disappointing summer for wildlife sightings during my runs. There have been tarantula’s in extreme numbers, and a record year for encounters with one my favorite desert dwellers, the Horny Toad. Other animals seem to be hiding, or avoiding the human on the trail. Or maybe they are waiting for the Monsoon season to arrive (it was a no show).
Stalking
The wild file is beginning to fill up with some epic photos and videos as the fall begins to unfold in the arid, but, thriving Desert Southwest. I have seen a number of animals, recently, and not just those that possess a rattle.
My photography/video skill level has improved over the summer season of running on Dave’s Trail and this has been a banner year for what I consider the best photos and/or videos of a lengthy list of animals. My best photos of a bobcat would surprisingly unveil as my trail shoes tapped onto my special trail (I think I have seen two people on it all summer).
As I crested the first hill, my eyes darted to an animal crossing my dirt track. My first thought was it was one of the two coyote youngsters I had seen in the same exact location the evening before (their home is very close by). When I have witnessed the coyotes, I have fumbled for my camera, only to see them scurry out of sight, before I can fire a shot off.
I caught sight of a jack rabbit about twenty yards down the dirt track. Ears thrusting to the clouds, these rabbits are still an odd sight. My eyeballs about fell out when I spotted a bobcat hiding within the brush a handful of feet to my right. Neither the animal with the ears nor the bobcat seemed to be concerned with my presence. They both must have seen me go by extremely slowly, in the past. Not a threat in running shoes.
I took a few quiet steps toward the bobcat. Some excitement in the air as this was my first bobcat this summer. I usually see two or three over the oven baked season that is summer.
Feline eyeballs were focused on hoppity ears, but the scene was playing out very slowly. This was likely a very young bobcat having been ‘kicked’ out of the home and was experiencing his first days on his own. Not totally at home with hunting and not leary of humans, I was enthralled to witness nature in the wild.
Hoppity ears crossed the trail and the bobcat lazily took the bait. Seeming to be more amused at seeing an animal that was 63% ears, than needing to have a meal, the bobcat sat on the hillside for 10+ minutes, gazing ahead. Gazing, but not grazing.
I was about thirty feet away, snapping photos and getting some jumpy video on my non-stabilized point and shoot camera. It was getting dark and I got a rare look from the bobcat as I tried to get even closer. He eventually moved up the hillside, never ringing the dinner bell. I took off down the trail only to see an owl, about thirty feet away, in a tree next to the trail.
Photo of a jack rabbit from the day after seeing the bobcat. This must be ‘the’ jack rabbit as I have come across exactly one rabbit that I can get close to (and that a certain bobcat can get close to). These hoppers are super duper skittish and when I enter the same zip code they smash their paws against the dirt in frantic rhythm and escape.
On my evening run through the Arizona desert last night I had a number of wildlife encounters. Expected during the summer season and remarkably common during my runs on my local trail route. I would encounter two Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes this evening which gives me almost as many sightings as all of last year (a record year for me). It is still June with about four months of watching where I step and hearing the occasional rattle, jingling while I sort out how close I am to the snake.
Of the many assorted and interesting critters I experience while I take in the desert environment, the most often seen, in this order are deer, rabbits and you guessed it, rattlesnakes. Twenty one at last count for the Spring and Early Summer season. Getting rather close to the number that welcomed me on my runs last year.
I love wildlife encounters and, well, snake encounters are a not quite a love affair but I do take on a trail runner crazy enough to run through the desert in the summer time, will trek through snake territory and will have a few meet and greet sessions with other inhabitants toting a rattle. It is their home and I do respect that simple fact.
Do rattlesnake's give my heart a jolt? No, but there is a bump in the heart rate when I take a quick dodge to the left or right to avoid a snake. They can blend in very well to the desert floor but I have had to become great with those scaly senses.
Very, very thankful that of all the creatures on the planet, the rattlesnake rates high on the list of animals that let you know of its presence. A beautiful fact and one of the reasons I have an admiration for the scaly and sometimes noisy, scary creatures of horror films and jolting newspaper articles. Oh, those stories of people who get bitten after decapitating a rattlesnake are primal fear unleashed.
I have adjusted my trail runs, slightly, due to encounters at the start of my trail. There are one of two 'friendly' slithery reptiles along the start of my trail time. Roughly eight or nine meet & greets within the first minute of the trail. I had to wonder about the fact that there was a r snake 20 feet up the trail. The photo below is another run-in that is at the exact start of the trail. Sheeesh! I now walk this lively section.
Clock is ticking toward my next run. Almost all of the wildlife I see on my runs is during the suppertime excursion. I will have my eyes dialed in for any and all wildlife, capture what I can with my camera and enjoy getting out in nature and continue to improve my health and diabetes care. And watch my step.
If you find yourself trekking through rattlesnake territory, do be ultra careful. I have read about some horrendous encounters with some devastating results after interactions with Mr. Rattlesnake.
Plan to share another angle on my wild wildlife experiences. Could include Gila Monsters, Tarantulas (yes, I pick them up!), Desert Tortoises, Bobcats, Javelina's (no, don't pick those up), Giant Desert Centipedes, and who knows what else might appear in my blog.
Black Rattlesnake
A Wild(life) Year in Video!
I shared in my previous blog
A Wild(life) Year in Photography
Another 'wild' year for me and my encounters with wildlife. The wildness factor dipped into my photography and in video. If I am taking photos I am usually just a button touch away from capturing wildlife in video. It is always my goal to walk away with photos and video if I happen to encounter a Sasquatch, Aliens, javelina, or whatever crosses my path or chases me in the rugged landscape of desert terrain in which I call home.
I have posted some memorable moments below with links to video(s) taken. I have not posted all of the videos under each photo. It was a good year for the videography, whether it was filming a tarantula crawling up my arm, a rattlesnake a few feet away or something away from the animal/insect kingdom.
Other videos on my channel can be found at:
Thanks for your visit and I look forward to more unique and exciting opportunities to use my camera in the future.
- on one of my runs
