You never see an animal unless they want to be seen :(

[Chippin]

I can't be the only one who almost never sees any animals besides birds while I'm taking a hike. Okay okay, maybe I see a squirrel here and there, but otherwise, my hikes are pretty lacking of wildlife, which is surprising since I have an easier time finding game when I'm hunting than attempting to do the same on trails.

In fact, more often than not I end up seeing animals when I don't want to see them, like a group of does flashing in front of the road while I'm in a car driving in front of them. At any other point I would have liked the scene but at that particular moment I'm sure I shouted a curse or two.

 

[dinosaur]

As Elmer Fudd said: Be vewy vewy qwiet.

When you're hiking, you are obviously making too much noise. You're also probably moving too fast. I see lots of animals when I'm hiking but I do tend to paths not well traveled and my pace is slow and relaxed.

Your mind set is probably misplaced also. Too many people hike from point A to point B. It's a good way to stay in shape but you might as well go to a gym. You need to view it as a nature walk and use your senses to hear the slight sounds and see the smallest movement. If you relax and concentrate, you'll see plenty.

 

[Rookie]

I think you're right, dinosaur. I tend to see the most animals when I stop for breaks. I sit quietly beside the path, and suddenly the area is full of life. It makes me wonder how much I've been missing while I've been walking along, lost in my own thoughts.

 

[ChadTower]

Depends on the path, too. If your path is a place where people regularly walk dogs you're not going to see much wildlife. Any path that smells like 100 different dogs is a wildlife free zone.

 

[dinosaur]

You're walking in a park, chad. Ask Rookie where to go. I'm sure he can tell you.

 

[Chippin]

Good suggestions. Hiking is a way for me to destress, but that doesn't mean that my mind is focused on listening to the wildlife. Rather, my head is busy worrying about paying the bills, whether I need to accept yet another invitation from a distant relative to try Farmville, and other nonsense. It can be hard to get into a state of being where you can be aware of everything that doesn't revolve around you.

 

[dinosaur]

It can be hard to get into a state of being where you can be aware of everything that doesn't revolve around you.

Wow! This needs to be saved. Chippin, you have just had an incredible insight. I sorely wish I would have said this. Awesome!!

 

[ChadTower]

You're walking in a park, chad. Ask Rookie where to go. I'm sure he can tell you.

Everything forested over a couple hundred acres here is a park. This place ran out of space a long time ago.

 

[Amelie]

Some wild boar were re-introduced to an estate here in Scotland about a year ago. Their purpose is to reduce the bracken naturally - I haven't spotted them yet - but I hope to do so. It is a place where I walk frequently - but the boar go into thier dens during the day.

 

[topwaterking]

i see deer all the time in the woods in fact a doe and me almost collided last summer she was young so we had fun i tucked down in some bushes and she did laps around me trying too figure out what i was