Five Animal Tails

Several people have asked me whether or not I've see any animals. The answer is YES, quite a lot, actually. Rather than listing them out, however, I will limit to telling you about just a few. The ones with the most interesting stories.

#1 - The Tragic Journey of a Song Bird

My first evening on Michigan's Upper Penninsula, I made the discovery of a new hood ornament. I'd hit a small, gray songbird mid-flight, most likely while driving through protected land (it's all protected land). It was quite pretty, with a little yellow on its chest. Unable to locate a handy bird-removing stick, I decided to leave it for the night. I imagined some local critter would take care of the situation for me.

No such luck. The bird stayed.

 For the next several days, whenever I noticed the bird, I was usually in a parking lot or some other location devoid of sticks. As time passed, I began to worry about what I might find if I were to fling it out. There were no bothersome smells or other consequences I could see, so I just left it.

I drove with that bird stuck in the grill of my car for over a week, through most of my trip through Canada. This may have violated a few wildlife and wilderness protection laws.

It eventually fell out somewhere between Moose Jaw and Medicine Hat. When I noticed it was gone, I was unexpectedly sad. 

Farewell, little buddy. You deserved better than me.

Poor little guy slid right in!

#2 - Be Bear Smart

The afternoon I arrived at Glacier, I saw a black bear!

I was driving a narrow dirt road. I came around the corner and there he was! (I think it was male because I've seen black bears before and this one was fairly large). Chilling in middle of the road, there was no way for me to get around him. After a few moments of watching, fascinated, I honked my horn a few times. He looked at me as if to say, "Ugh. Fine. I'll move." He then meandered off into the forest. No more than 10 seconds passed before I drove up to the spot where he left the road, but I wasn't able to see him among the trees. His ability to disappear fascinated me.

I didn't get any pictures because I was too enthralled to think about my camera.

#3 - Vault Toilet Rescue

While taking a pre-hike restroom break in the Bitterroot National Forest, I found that I wasn't alone in vault toilet. Over to the side, trying to climb the wall, was a small lizard. Its body was black with thin green stripes, but it's tail was bright blue. I now know it to be a Western Skink.

Since it looked like it was trying to find its way out, I held the door open and gently shooed it along. Once outside, it stopped moving as if it was thinking "now what?"

It occurred to me later, that instead of saving its life, I may have left it vulnerable to predators. Either way, I improved the day of some critter.

#4 - Snack Time with a Moose

During a trail run in the Bitterroot Mountains, I came across a female moose. Standing near the trail, munching the shrubbery, it took me a moment to figure out what I was looking at because she blended in so well. She kept one eye on me and kept eating. I told her I was just going to stand here in the shade and wait until she was done before I passed. 

After a few minutes of watching her eat, I figured I might as well do the same and got out my pretzels and almond M&Ms. Something about this triggered her curiosity. She stopped eating, moved a few steps closer, and just stared.

Then, for reasons I cannot explain, I bellowed, "MOOOOOOOSE!"

She blew heavily out her nostrils, clearly annoyed. I quickly apologized. Disgusted, she walked off without giving me another look.

#5 Never Mess with an Angry Grouse

Not long after my moose encounter, I suddenly had a bird appear in front of me. It was a grouse and it was ANGRY. Its feathers were all puffed up and it was holding its wings out to make itself look large. Its beak was open and it was hissing. Clearly it had a nest nearby.

Before I had a chance to comprehend what I was seeing, it started running towards me. Without hesitation, I turned and sprinted back down the trail. After several yards, I glanced back and IT WAS STILL BEHIND ME!

A few moments later, I heard it stop, and turned to see it headed back to where we first me. It lept up on a fallen log and did a dance that reminded me of something you'd see in an NFL end zone. Eventually, it hopped off and disappeared from sight.

Since I had to walk past that spot to get out, and knowing the grouse was still on the ready, I started clapped my hands loudly as I walked towards the fallen log. Once I got close, I took off running. I heard it jump out and follow me, but I did not slow down or turn around until I was well clear of that area.

There was too much going on to take a picture, but this video will give you an idea of what I experienced.

Epilogue: About 5 minutes later, I had the pants scared off me by a large black lab. I apologized to both the dog and the owner for shrieking so ridiculously, and told them about the grouse. Both were very friendly and forgiving. We swapped animal encounter stories for a few minutes before going our separate ways.

Bonus: Pikachu, I Choose You!

I saw a pika in the Sawtooth Mountains! There's really not much else to say except that they really are super cute.