A Walk In the Woods

[Primus Pilus]

I've been lost hunting too, Primus Pilus. It was my fault; I went into the bush without telling anyone where I was going, without a companion, a compass or a cellphone or any kind of precaution other than my rifle and some warm clothes. Like an idiot, I didn't even take any dogs. Amazing how bulletproof/stoopid you are at 19!

I became engrossed in the chase and did not realise that the sun was setting rapidly and before I knew it, darkness set in. I spent a freezing night in the bush with a Mars bar and a bottle of water my only sustenance. Luckily for me, my uncle the bushman knew that part of the bush well and came in and found me. I was sh***ing!

Something that I am at once happy and sad about is the lack of large land based predators like bears and cougars here in New Zealand. I've always thought how it would be cool to see one in the flesh (not too close, though.)

 

You sure wouldn't have wanted to see any that night

[cornelius_sulla]

I dunno; I was pretty damn hungry!

[Nephele]

Just want to let y'all know how much this city kid is enjoying these tales of hunting and camping in the wilds.

 

And... How wistfully envious I am of y'all...

 

-- Nephele

[caldrail]

Interesting notes about bears and rifles, though it occurs to me that the bears who do become acquainted with mans lethal devices generally don't have an opportunity to benefit from that knowledge!

 

Mind you, here in Blighty we have reports of large cats roaming the wilds and occaisionally a 'competent' person steps forward claiming to have observed such a beastie. Back when I was helping a mate out driving delivery vans part-time, I made a delivery to Windsor Safari Park (now defunct). The security people told me where I needed to go to find the contractor and said I could go through the monkey enclosure if I wanted (who was he trying to kid? - those monkeys disaasemble motor vehicles for laughs). Anyhow, I found the contractors yard and asked some guy who said "Wait there - I'll fetch someone". Okeedokee. So there I was leaning against a chicken wire fence. Until I became aware of a lioness prowling the other side of it. She glanced up at me as if to say "You're not worth the effort sonny" and plodded past. Being within three feet of a big cat (albeit with a wire fence between) is something special. It gets better though. As a child I was visiting some country house safari park (I don't know which) and the stable at the back of the house was roped off. Looking into the gloomy interior I saw a black panther, suckling her cubs patiently. I have never forgotten the stare that cat gave me. "Thats ok, little human, you can look, but come in here and you're catfood..."

 

Seeing nature up close and personal is fantastic. Once as a schoolkid I decided to sit out a cross country run and hid in a brake of trees beside the old railway line. Whilst I was there, about six feet away, a fox crept into view from my right obviously intent on some small morsel unaware of the danger it was in. Then the fox realised I was there, and froze in horror. For that brief moment we stared into each others eyes before the fox came to his senses and scarpered. It really is incredible how something like that makes you aware of what nature is - that these animals aren't just soft furry creatures in Disney films, that they're real live breathing animals going about survival as nature intended.

 

All things considered, I'm not sure I want to get up close and personal to large dangerous predators in the wilds of some endless forest - but I do appreciate the thrill and challenge faced by those in previous ages who did this for their own survival.

[Kosmo]

Some of us are lucky enough to be distasteful to mosquitos, and immune to poisen ivey too.

The clouds of damn things tried to enter my mouth while I was smoking, pinched me thru the shirt and were crawling on my skin searching for a spot without insect repelant. I was trying to fish while it was dark outside, but the air was full of them. As morning came a loud buzzing group of dragonflies started hunting them and drove the mosquitos in the nearby forest. The place it's like a jungle.

I can bet that nobody it's distasteful for Danube Delta desperate mosquitos.

[cornelius_sulla]

I got eaten alive by the little blighters on the weekend. I also am not one of the lucky few who mozzies consider unpalateable. The prehistoric looking monsters we get down here cannot be deterred from their vampiric compulsions no matter what amount of sprays, lotions, or creams you apply.

It's all part of the trip though, isn't it? Mozzies are the last thing on my mind when I'm in the bush/forest.

This weekend I'm off with my kids to do some eeling. This includes a bush walk. Can't wait.

[caldrail]

One thing to be said about british woodland is the lack of anything really harmful (unless you're dumb enough to eat mushrooms and toadstools without knowing what they are!) In all the years I've been hiking around the area between Swindon and Devizes, only once have I encountered a poisonous snake (the adder, the only such reptile in britain). The little beastie was sunning itself in a rut along a path and I nearly trod on it! None too suprisingly, it was a little alarmed as well and hissed at me - thanks for the warning matey... I'll just step around like this.... Go back to sleep....

 

I have heard it said that in britain you never find spider webs larger than six feet across. Rubbish. I've seen webs across the footpaths of Savernake Forest at least twice that, with mean looking spiders in tiger stripe camo I've never seen elsewhere.

 

Flies and mosquitoes do occur in britian (obviously) but never a real problem, although once or twice I've felt something on my hand and realised some noxious insect was sucking blood. One such horse-fly refused to let go even after I swatted it, but interestingly that wasn't in the wilds, that was on a footpath between a housing development and an urban small holding.

 

Dragonflies you only find near waterways - they're no bother. Wasps are none too common either - I've never come across a nest in the country. The only nests I've experienced were a bird-box in our back garden, and once before in our garage, both dealt with by the friendly neighborhood pest people.

 

Come to think of it, even in our built up area, you get wildlife scavenging off our waste which I guess is easier than making a living in rural areas. At night I've seen badgers and weasels stalking around, and I remember a startled security guard walking past a vixen and her cubs within a few feet on a grass verge of a company carpark.

 

It has occured to me though that a lot of british wildlife simply goes unnoticed. Walking in West Woods near Marlborough I spotted a deer on the crest of a cleared hillside beside some fir trees. I marvelled at how close the colour of its fur was to the bark of wet trees. Then the other deer beside it that had been looking at me head on (and thus looking exactly like a small tree trunk at that distance) moved and for confirmed just how good simple plain colour can be for hiding.

[Faustus]

We can not get anyone of authority to acknowledge the existence of cougars here in southern Indiana but they are seen frequently enough to remove much doubt, and leave very large paw prints behind. Without question I saw a very large one close up, crossing a highway 3-miles west of Joliet Illinois, 40 miles west of Chicago in 1958, long before the release of "exotic" pets began.

 

Mind you, here in Blighty we have reports of large cats roaming the wilds and occaisionally a 'competent' person steps forward claiming to have observed such a beastie. So there I was leaning against a chicken wire fence. Until I became aware of a lioness prowling the other side of it. She glanced up at me as if to say "You're not worth the effort sonny" and plodded past. Being within three feet of a big cat (albeit with a wire fence between) is something special. , but come in here and you're catfood..."

Yesterday (April 15th) it was necessary for police officers to bring down a 5' long 150 pound cougar (mountain lion) within the city limits of Chicago. This decidedly was a wild, not someones "pet" animal. Too bad it had to die, but at least the body proves the existence of such a large cat in a city environment.