Wild things

Yosemite is famous for its wildlife as well as for its views. One of the animals I sighted most often was the bear. With such ample opportunity for observation I learned a lot about the bears of Yosemite. They are usually cute and friendly looking and normally appear in groups. They move so infrequently that bird droppings can accumulate on their eyeballs. They are also made of wood.

It's hard to see what all the fuss is about really. I can't imagine that it would be too alarming to be mauled by one of these guys.

You might get a splinter, I suppose, or develop nausea in response to a particularly saccharine pose.

Sometimes, very occasionally, bears are made out of bear.

When you encounter a bear of this type you will recognise it immediately. It will be surrounded by tourists hovering at a respectful distance with cameras in their hands. They will be saying "Look! A bear!" in all the languages of the world.

The bears are nice enough, I suppose, but there are cuter, fluffier animals to be seen and stalked with photographic equipment.

I am quite proud of this trophy from my personal chipmunk safari. I stalked the little fellow for at least 10 minutes before I could get close enough for a clear shot.

There were water animals too.

The butterflies gathered at waterways. Several times they danced around me in groups like a visual tribute to the sound of tinkling water. I was too slow, or too transfixed, or too inadequate a photographer to capture any of those moments and share them with you. Trust me, you wish you were there.

Bambi here was actually stalking me. I was marching out across the meadow with my camera at the ready when Bambi sneaked up behind me from a nearby thicket. Patricia and Dad were standing near the car watching the pantomime. Bambi was only a few feet away when Patricia said in her best Panto voice, "Heather! Behind you!" I whirled around in time to see ... nothing. They were both gesticulating excitedly. "There was a deer right behind you."

Yeah, right.

It wasn't until Bambi popped out at the other end of the thicket that I realised they weren't kidding. Fortunately I managed to get a few shots anyway although not, alas, from within patting distance.

Of course, having read my Yosemite information booklet carefully, I would not have risked a pat even if Bambi had trotted up and tried to shake hands. Apparently, more people are killed in Yosemite each year by deer than by bears. No doubt there are a few confounds in that comparison. I'm sure there are more deer than bears, for example. I'm equally sure that relatively few hikers are silly enough to try to hug a bear compared with those who will risk the vicious fangs and claws of the mule deer. Of course, the other possibility is that the victims of deer attacks simply die of shame, unable to admit to their friends that they were savaged by Bambi.

No wildlife blog entry would be complete without some mention of my favourite wild animal in North America. Even surrounded by the wonder of Yosemite National Park, the common ground squirrel is still one of the most exciting sights for me. The fact that they are everywhere doesn't seem to have desensitised me. Even the knowledge that attempting to cuddle one could well infect me with the Black Death doesn't seem to have put me off. At the merest glimpse of a fluffy tail I reflexively exclaim "Squirrel!" while lunging for my camera. I photographed this squirrel in preference to this view.

But who could blame me? The squirrels are just so cute!