Below are selected images from moments that I have been fortunate to spend in the company of wild animals. They are not great photographs, but they capture, in a small way, what were for me some exhilarating moments... When it comes to being observed and photographed, some animals are generally more "cooperative" than others. While there are certain exceptions to the following statements, many members of the mammalian order Artiodactyla (deer, moose, bison, etc.) are often readily observed from fairly close range, as are many Rodentia (beaver, for example), and Pinnipedia (seals, sea lions). By contrast, members of the mammalian order Carnivora (fox, wolf, bobcat, bear) are generally seen far more rarely and usually at a greater distance. Chiroptera (bats) are often seen and are quite interesting, but are not easily photographed. A group of animals that particularly fascinates me is the mammalian order Cetacea (dolphins, whales). These beautiful and apparently intelligent animals at times display an obvious curiosity about us humans. They are relatively easy to observe mainly because of the recent growth of the "eco-tourism" industry. Whale watching trips are usually quite affordable and are available in coastal areas around the world. Anyone who wishes to observe whales in the wild can readily do so. Thankfully, it is now more profitable to protect whale populations than to slaughter them, although Japan and Norway persist in whaling...

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This is Monachus schauinslandi -- the Hawaiian monk seal -- and he is as rare as are giant pandas and certain species of tiger. Only about 1000 of these animals exist, making it a highly endangered species. Their population is spread across the fifteen hundred miles of the Hawaiian Island chain (largely in the shoals and atolls northwest of Kauai); we 'hung-loose' with this one for a while on Poipu Beach (Kauai) without disturbing his (or was it her?) nap.

Bear notes: While encountering a bear is not the rare "high coup" that is a cougar encounter, it will get your heart beating a bit quicker. Above is a female black bear seen foraging with her cub in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains.The sketch to the left is of a bear we saw in the mountains near Waterton, Alberta a few years ago. It was apparently more startled than we were and demonstrated the nearly instantaneous acceleration of a rocket. The drawing conveys my general recollection of watching the large, fluid missile 'fly' across a large meadow. Below: moose, Montana; bald eagle, Alaska; hoary marmot, British Columbia.

Photography notes: Given the problems of movement, lighting, window of opportunity, equipment limitations, equipment malfunction, and photographer limitations / malfunction (notice how I listed that last?), most of my wildlife photos are very poor -- as is clearly evident in the images I have decided to include below. To the left are some grainy, blurry pictures of bats; not very good but the best I've done to date.

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Bobcat notes: Perhaps more than any other wildlife, I am fascinated by the wild cats -- beautiful, graceful, extremely athletic, illusive. Two species of wild cats live throughout the American West; the rarely seen mountain lion (aka- cougar) and the more frequently seen bobcat. I have several times seen bobcats (like the one I photographed above), but usually near dusk when slow shutter speeds make a sharp image difficult without a tripod. Bobcats that I have seen in San Diego and Riverside Counties are often quite large -- about the size of a coyote... Their behavior strikes one as being strangely familiar, like observing a larger-scale version of a house cat (approximately 40 inches long and weighing perhaps 40 pounds).

Without wild places, there is no true place for wildlife. To preserve the awesome biotic diversity which graces our little blue island in space, we must respect and value wild places. Our most popular national parks are no longer wild, they are amusement parks in the business of pseudo-wildness commerce. Much (but not yet all) of the "wildlife" in Yellowstone or Yosemite is no longer wild; but merely the curious wares of mega-zoo business. Sadly, most of America's designated wilderness areas are smaller than Disney World. Think about that -- how small can "wilderness" be? ... Given enough financing and/or ignorance, wildness is readily destroyed, yet it cannot be re-created by mere humans. A world of fewer wild places is a world of diminished beauty, of less human dignity, less access to peace, rest, renewal, and wisdom. It is a world less healthy, less whole. Blind materialism, greed, ignorance and smug indifference are the diseases waging a relentless campaign of death against wildness. The diseases are well financed, they are dear to corporate kings. The Gods of the diseases are Profit and Growth. As Edward Abbey once pointed out, "Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell." Visit Yosemite Valley on a summer day and you will experience "the ideology of the cancer cell." Among those who desire a truer experience of wildness, some of the great parks have been 'written-off', surrendered to the numbed masses in the hope that these places might serve as a buffer to help protect what is left of the wild...