Creatures you look for on the trail

I wonder if others have any certain animals or other critters they seek out while hiking. For myself I look for amphibians, frogs, salamanders and also enjoy identifying birds. Im always hoping to see something listed as rare or endangered.

I don't necessarily seek them out, but I've taken a good interest in Salamanders in the Marble Mt. Wilderness in N CA on my first trip there and some of the plants and trees on a return trip. I try to pay attention to plants and signs of critters when out. Goes back to my interests as a kid.
Duane

My son has a intense interest in animals and we tend to spend quite a bit of time searching out any and all creepy crawlies. Last year he found a neat praying mantis under a rock...... In the middle of the Nevada desert. About the size of a dime and grey.

Lately, I've become unwilling to turn over the rocks, for fear of finding a politician.

Rattlesnakes!! I also look for birds; I live in an area that has a lot of birds that are uncommon in the US such as the Elegant Trogon, painted redstart, and the flame-colored tanager. Oh, and hummingbirds, lots of hummingbirds.

We get occasional western tanager, what beautiful bird.

I'm typically a trail dolt and walk past a lot of critters w/o noticing. Reason I suspect it's me is I'm occasionally surprised by something REALLY CLOSE; most memorable award probably goes to a bald eagle rousted from a nearby stand of brush in Emigrant Wilderness. Startled the bejeezus out of me, and by far the closest I've ever been to a wild specimen.

I'm generally disappointed by the relative lack of forest and especially alpine critters on my trips. They see us far, far before we have any chance of seeing them. I'd say Rocky Mountain National Park had the least concerned wildlife population I've ever encountered. We were literally shooing them away on rest stops--two or four legs alike.

Lassen Park wildlife also has a pretty laissez-faire attitude to we human types (a 10-point buck we named Mister Stampy was pretty mad at our party for camping in his territory one night). I once camped at a lake in the Washington Cascades where a herd of deer kept us awake most of two nights grazing, snorting, stomping and generally being pests. That was really something.

Cheers,

As an archaeologist and sometime paleontologist, I am always interested in a variety of critters, but not until they are dead and buried....

I find that in general I see more living things when I am hiking alone. In a group, we humans just make too much of an infernal racket.

That's true for me too ... in a way. Most of the time when I'm hiking solo, I'm just hiking, taking few breaks, and the ones I do are generally daily lunches and so --- active times.

Some of the best animal encounters I've had (I'm talking mammals here in general) were times when I was sitting quiet for a while. So in fact, some good animal encounters for me are when I'm hiking with one or more other people who walk a different pace, and I'm stopped alone waiting for him/her/them. Or it's when I'm doing some tough trail solo and need to take a break. Or sometimes in (a solo) camp.

Just walking along, I essentially announce my arrival too clearly to the wildlife, and so see mostly just the ones that don't mind me seeing them for the most part. There have been some fun exceptions, but that's the general rule as I perceive it.

I actually have seen more wildlife when with my dog, because he alerts me to its presence.

Then there was the early October night in which a bull elk moved into the meadow next to my camp and kept bugling all night. It was exciting for a while, but by the fifth time he woke me up, I was thinking serious thoughts about elk stew!

I'm constantly on the look out for snakes in warmer weather, but I hardly ever see one. I do love to see all the cool critters wherever I go. I've found I see very few mammals or birds when hiking, but if I sit very still for about 20 minutes they will start coming out and getting back to their daily routine.

One of my best sightings was a family of river otters playing in the Buffalo River. They were having such a good time. I crouched down behind some cane on a high bank above the river as soon as I spotted them and watched them without moving a muscle for about ten minutes. As soon as I shifted they saw me and swam under the bank and disappeared.

I've gotten pretty close to Elk down there too. One Spring I had one follow me for about 10 minutes, snorting the entire time at me. The forest had just finished leafing out and was really thick so I never did see him, but I could hear him.

We get some great birds migrating through here. Soon we'll have Pelicans come through. They're big white ones, and really beautiful. The first time I saw them I was outside early one morning and it was real foggy out. I heard the swooshing of their wings and through the mist I saw them fly right over my head, not more than 40 feet above me, and then they vanished into the mist again. When I told my neighbors what I saw they all told me I needed to stop smoking whatever it was I must be smoking. Luckily for me, about two years later the Missouri Dept of Conservation published an article about them, and I was finally exonerated

I'm always amazed how many people don't see snakes. Where I hike, I encounter lots of dayhikers (read: parents/scout leaders and little kids) near various trailheads. Quite often, I'll see a copperhead (occasionally a timber rattler) a few feet off the trail, minding its own business, and ask the hikers, "What did you think of the snake back there?" The usual answer (at varying volume) is, "What snake?" - and I watched them walk past it!

(In the interest of full disclosure, many years ago I had a buddy grab me to stop me, and say, "You've already stepped over one timber rattler, don't press your luck." It was a cool day, we were just starting, and I was fiddling with my pack straps, and totally missed the 3 timber rattlers sunning themselves on the trail - one behind me, and two ahead. Maybe that's why I notice them now. No laundry was done as a result of the incident.)

I love looking for creatures of any type on the trail and scan for them constantly. Its one of my favorite things to do on the trail. I tend to see more tracks and traces of animals more than the creature themselves and I think I may enjoy that more. Trying to figure out the type of animal, the direction they were heading, etc. based on tracks and feces is like being a detective. Love It!!

Snakes, in certain times and places. I don't know if this makes sense or not, but I see more when I'm not particularly looking for anything. Have had the heck scared out of me, by actually almost colliding with a number of animals. Not sure why, but I tend to attract critters, especially the type with teeth and nasty tempers.

J.

Animals seem to look for us on the trail. This is a video of some mountain goats. (Start at 2:10)

Quandary Peak

Here is a snake for you, jbylake
Smooth Green Snake

In the local San Diego areas right now, lots of humming birds and a fair amount of snakes. We also get the western tanager and the hooded oriole, and a host of smaller birds that come through the our hill sides. Studying the tracks of animals and birds is as fun as seeing them directly. We have tons of taranchulas that leave very distinctive tracks along with snakes, deer, coyote, bobcat, mountain lion, skunk, and raccoon. We've seen all these critters too, making the various marks and leaving marks as well as various behaviors. And with Tica, we find things you would normally not see just because of her nose...lots of quail in particular. One time she found a rather large male pheasant to the surprise of us all. In some sections of the chaparral, it is very hard to hide especially from Tica (my gsp).

Tarantulas (and ticks) I could do without, but I love the California quail! When I lived in eastern Washington, there was a flock lived on my street. They don't seem to live in western Oregon, and I miss them.

Tarantula story. I used to never bring a tent into the desert and as such would just pull up a piece of comfortable ground and go to sleep. One cold fall morning I awoke to see tarantulas everywhere on the ground all heading in roughly the same direction. At least a hundered in my area as every couple of feet there would be one. The great tarantula migration of '81. One of the weirder things I have seen over the years. Given the density, probably 30 had to hoof it over me or go around...maybe that's why I woke up before the sun was up that morning .

I love quail. We actually have 3 different kinds in San Diego County, but the Mountain and Gambel Quail are kind of rare.

I pick one particular outing (fishing backpack trip) because of a large family of timber rattlers; just like saying hello to the fam., and coyotes and deer. I like the larger critters.
Love seeing bears too; although while i was day-hiking from camp about 8 months ago a young black bear wandered in and tore up my tent (lots of stupid-me lessons I could relate, but I digress...). I returned and caught him red-handed and he ambled off, looking back at me as if to say "so what are you lookin at?).
THE biggy for me on all forest trips is owls. Must listen to owls - they fascinate and relax me. In the desert it's coyotes carrying on at night.
Then, on water excursions, love the bald eagles, osprey (in particular), herons and cormorants. I look for them. I'm down south so don't get to encounter loons, but used to spend time 30 years ago in northern lakes and I loved the loons. I do get hawk migrations and I love watching them.