Animal Encounters on the Trail

[summitseeker]

Hi all,

It's funny that one of the most common questions non-hikers ask me is what animals I have encountered while on the trail. In reality I hadn't had a single notable animal experience besides some begging gray jays and a sheepish mink on Tecumseh. Yesterday I decided to do a quick up and down on Whiteface after finishing my 48 on Sunday. On my descent, just below the trail junction of the Blueberry Trail and the Blueberry Cut off, I startled what I believe to have been a full grown Bobcat. It was a very brief and exciting moment.

Question: So what animal encounters have you had while on the trail?

I am looking forward to some wild tales.

Z

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

I've had several moose encounters including one time when a mama moose chased me down the trail and almost got me until I started zig-zaging through the woods.

Three bear encounters including a face to face when we came up over a rise and there was a bear. That caught us both by surprise. He wheeled and turned and stood facing me. Lauky suddenly charged at him and he ran off.

Numerous porcupine encounters. I pulled quills out of Duffy several times. Lauky is always on a leash so he was spared that experience.

One winter just after coming down the Jewell trail from Jefferson at the cog railway station we had just climbed in the car when a very large coyote walked right past the car.

There have also been times when Lauky has told me with body language that we were being followed but I never saw the animal.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Two incidents, both involving birds, come to mind -

The first was in the Rockies, on route to Longs Peak. It was around 8AM, and as I rounded a shoulder of Lady Washington, I sat down for a few minutes to rest. After a bit, I could hear soft clucking sounds nearby. Looking in the direction of the sounds, I didn't see anything but the clucking continued. Finally, I realized that there were not one but several ptarmigan quietly foraging the short grasses. They moved slowly, and the coloration with their surroundings so perfect they were difficult to spot. I took several pictures of them, and when I show them to others, most people cannot find them in the pictures.

The second was in the Owens Valley, south of Bishop, CA. It was early, maybe 6AM, and I was enroute to a hike when I passed a golden eagle, standing beside the road on top of a dead jackrabbit. It was being harassed by 3 ravens, which are large birds themselves. However, they were dwarfed by this huge raptor. I slowed as I passed, and its eyes were on the same plane as mine in the car. I turned around and drove back, and watched as it lifted into the air with the jack in its talons. The ravens continued to harass it but were unable to make it drop the dead rabbit. I'd seen lots of golden eagles before, mostly in Utah, but always at a distance.

And while nothing gets my heart pounding more than the sound of a rattlesnake a few feet away (I lived in the Eastern Sierra for 7 years), the first time I saw a wolf in the wild is a close second. Watching a lone male, loping along, covering huge amounts of ground with each bound, was something to behold. I presumed he was checking his boundary markings, and he gave me a quick glance but didn't pause. This particular sighting was in BC.

 

[Trail Bandit]

I have seen bears, moose, a bobcat, mink, beavers, etc and many birds The rarest, at least for me was a Spruce Grouse
that was on the Baldface Circle Trail between the N and S summits. It let us walk to within a few feet of it before it walked off into the scrub.

 

[The Sikes]

More than I thought we were would with kids making so much noise. We've seen moose (very close up...too close for me), deer, hawks (one came between me and my daughter as we were eating our lunch on the Bigelows and then the pair circled higher and higher above us...was beautiful), a grouse chased my son down a trail. We came upon it and babies which we didn't see until all hell broke loose. (my son was screaming like a girl...we were laughing), a porcupine, a bear, canadian jays and some other birds I don't know the name of begging for food. A Mink.

 

[IQuest]

Other than gray jays and sprue grouse I don't see much. Probably having a dog along keeps most animals away. I did see a bear running off in the woods while hiking Carr Mtn once and just last summer I dropped down off of a ledgy section on Oregon Mtn and saw a big black mass lumbering away. I was too busy checking to see if Marlie had noticed to get a good look. I assume that was a moose. Then there was the time just before dusk that my wife and I were walking on the trails behind our house. We were returning through an old sand pit when I noticed Marlie staring off behind me. I turned to see a coyote standing next to a pile of sand about 100 feet away. Before I had time to react, Marlie took off after it and chased it into the woods. She came back after a few seconds (thankfully alone, I pictured the whole pack chasing her back towards me) extremely excited. As we exited the woods we could hear several more not too far behind hooting and howling.

 

[dug]

They are remarkably rare, aren't they? Non-hikers do assume that I'm fending off bears all day, but the reality is I've had one true encounter (Brutus, who owned the Pemi for years) took a liking to the nearly empty pot of spanish rice that we lazily left out one evening.

Next, I saw a resting moose in the Kilkenny once. He got up, bolted to the right, promptly slammed into two trees. His huge rack got hung up, then he got around that and was gone. My dog went after him, but gave up after a few minutes. It was amazing seeing this huge animal wading through the forest.

I saw a fisher cat crossing the trail on Carr Mtn. I saw it, and thought it was a skinny bear cub...then I assumed it was my dog...until it climbed a tree. I was puzzled for a few seconds until I figured it out, gathered my dog, and scooted out of there.

Last, we rescued a downed Red-Throated Loon on the top of Middle Carter Mtn. We believe a windstorm blew him down into the woods, and he couldn't get a long enough ramp to fly out. He spent the night in our tent, pecking at our feet, before we brought him to a rescue place the next day.

 

[madmattd]

The moose standing by the Cabot summit sign (the "official" sign, not the stick sign) about 6 years ago was pretty awesome. Took off like a shot when I came around the corner from The Bulge, but not before I got a heck of a view of it! It's funny, I spent 8-9 days hiking in Maine last summer and my total moose seen count was a big fat zero.

Never seen a bear on the trail, but I've seen several crossing the road as I drove to a trailhead.

Gray Jays aplenty (even in some pretty brutal weather), a couple spruce grouse, the usual chipmunks chattering away. Ravens (or at least I think they were ravens) on the Flume cliffs a couple times.

Saw a flying squirrel on the trail by the summit of North Kinsman earlier this year too, which was unique. From what I understand they are around but usually not seen during the day. It hung out long enough for me to creep near it for a few pictures before it went hopping off across the rocks into the woods.

 

[summitseeker]

Wow! Some exciting tales so far.

I forgot to mention that I have startled a grouse (or vice versa) and seen a peregrine falcon as well. It is amazing how that these encounters do not happen more often. I seem to see more wildlife when I am solo hiking without poles. The sound and scent factor do come into play when you are close to an animal. When I saw the bobcat I realized after that I was upwind but not necessarily moving that quietly.

Good stuff, I've enjoyed reading these posts

Z

 

[erugs]

Last, we rescued a downed Red-Throated Loon on the top of Middle Carter Mtn. We believe a windstorm blew him down into the woods, and he couldn't get a long enough ramp to fly out. He spent the night in our tent, pecking at our feet, before we brought him to a rescue place the next day.

Dug - a huge Shout Out to you for rescuing the loon. I was on a hike once where the AMC leader actually attacked a downed loon on the trail above tree line heading up a southern Presidential. It was a shocking and disturbing site. Thank you so much for that.

 

[peakbagger]

I had two paddling weekends in a row several years ago. Weekend one was off of Freeport Maine paddling around the local islands in the ocean. Seals when sunning themselves typically head into the water when kayaks approach but very soon they will be hanging around in the water popping their heads up. A week after I am paddling on the North lake section of Flagstaff lake in Maine. It has a decidedly coastal feel sometimes with seagulls and sandy beaches but definitely not the ocean. While paddling along I see a couple of heads pop up out of the water, initially I say to myself "just some seals coming to check me out" then realize that there aren't any fresh water seals in Maine. Turns out it was a family of otters exhibiting similar behaviors as the seals. At one point there were two large otters and two smaller otters hanging out popping their heads out. Eventually we paddled out of range. Flagstaff is a great lake for wildlife encounters, few if any power boats due to lots of snags and sandbars and if you head up to the north lake few if any people. (just make sure you realize that the west channel shown on the USGS map doesn't exist

I have also seen otters at Baxter on Wassataquoik stream from my leant to at the ford over to Russell Pond. They were swimming around right at daylight then moved off as the sun rose.

On a subsequent trip to Flagstaff I did an early morning paddle and came upon a couple of bald eagles hanging out on a tree top. Sure looked like they were hanging out figuring out the plans for the day.

The flying squirrels at the former Desolation Shelter probably got as much food as Brutus the bear and family, they were just sneakier. I had a bear bag properly hung and woke up at some point and heard a noise. It was a flying squirrel making a landing on my bear bag. That critter drilled a precise hole through the bag to gain access to the gorp.

My AT boundary section in Maine has several bears, I have to walk a couple of miles in via a closed logging road and usually have one or two bear encounters going in and out. Basically when they see me they run off.

 

[dug]

Dug - a huge Shout Out to you for rescuing the loon. I was on a hike once where the AMC leader actually attacked a downed loon on the trail above tree line heading up a southern Presidential. It was a shocking and disturbing site. Thank you so much for that.

It was a weird scene. It was Veteran's Day weekend, cold and snowing. I see something move, and there's this loon in the woods, not happy. We had a snack and debated...do we let nature take it's course (my idea, honestly) or do we try to bring him back (my buddy's idea). We left to hit North Carter and turned back...deciding if it was still there we'd take it. About an hour later, there it was. I cleared the bottom of my pack and put him in there, keeping it unzipped a bit.

We were camping down low, in the woods where the Nineteen Mile Brook trail splits. We put him in our tent for the night and did our usual hanging out for a few hours. He pecked away for much of the night, not causing any damage, and in the AM we broke camp. He tried to get away at one point, walking through the woods for several yards, before we gathered him back up. Packed him up and put him in a safe spot for the ride home. We tried to feed him bread (only thing we could think of) which didn't fly.

Calling that afternoon trying to find someone who could care for him was the most frustrating. I know some people at the Audobon Society, and to say I was less than impressed is an understatement. They were more concerned with having him die so they could see if he died from lead poisoning then helping. We found a rescue place in York, ME who brought him back. A few weeks later, they released him over the Atlantic. I still tell my daughter a made-up children's story about "Carter the Loon".

 

[Tom Rankin]

Bear, deer, pine marten, coyote, porcupines, snowshoe hares, skunk, fox, snakes of various kinds including a rattler, spruce grouse and many other more common and uncommon birds, various types of squirrels, chipmunks, frogs, toads, a domestic goat(!), efts, etc.

 

[Breeze]

Dug, I wish you could find an illustrator to make that a published children's story. Was it Avian Haven where you finally connected ?

Breeze

 

[Rainman]

A bear cub, a moose in Maine so close I could have reached out and touched its nose (it had been bedded down for the day), a deer fawn, spruce grouse, a beaver at Zealand, snowshoe hare at Liberty Spring tentsite.

 

[Mike P.]

Seen many animals from the trails but no bears or big cats yet. Lately it’s mostly been chipmunks and toads although I did see a couple of bigger frogs as I’ve been closer to water, okay in the water. Moose, I’ve walked to ponds to see them, including a cow up close in BSP but never a moose blocking the trail I was going up.

Seen my share of Gray Jays, ravens, Spruce Grouse including one on Isolation that refused to yield & actually was somewhat aggressive. A few Turkeys, some with wings instead of hiking boots. Did see a Bald Eagle several years ago in NH, these days you can see them in the winter along trails in CT near the CT or Thames River. I’ve seen them from my car in East Hartford & Norwich.
The Crawford Notch Fox, a couple of Coyote in CT, one on the AT, the other actually fishing near Gay City State Park, a snake that looked & sounded like a rattlesnake on Mt. Race several years ago, several garter snakes including this past week in the ADK’s Did see a snowshoe hare on my winter trip on Cabot a while back. The beast with it's sharp pointy teeth actually came at me down the trail a bit seemingly unaware I was there until it was within 6-8 feet of me, then it left the trail. (no real sharp pointy teeth ) Also saw a fisher cat while sitting at the Carter Dome / 19 Mile junction and many deer over the years.

In the Italian Alps, near Mt. Ortler, I did have to yield to a bull that was eating on the trail. We came down to a distance I thought he’d start yielding. We made some noise with our hiking poles. He responded by pawing the ground in that stereotypical motion they make before charging. That was enough for us to go 50 yards or so up the hill to go around him. Figured if he was going to charge, he could go uphill to get to us.

Did see my first barefoot hiker this past Saturday ascending Mt. Marcy, deer I see almost every day in my neighborhood but barefoot hiking I thought was unusual, especially on one of NY’s busiest trails.

 

[Paul K]

I was camping by Unknown Pond with my son. I left him to rest in the tent and went down to the water's edge to wait for a moose. It looked like the perfect place for a moose, so I thought I would try to see how long I could sit very quietly and maybe one would emerge. I was surprised at how hard it was for me to sit guietly for more than a few minutes. Though I was sitting there for the purpose of spotting a moose, I was stunned when one poked her head out from the bushes across the water. I watched her for a while in disbelief. Then I slipped away to wake my son so he could see it, but when we got back to the pond she was gone. The unlikeliness of it made me doubt what I knew I had seen. I've seen other moose on the trail - such as at BSP and even at the Madison Springs Hut - but successfully willing one to appear across the misty surface of Unknown Pond was my favorite.

 

[Chip]

Two encounters come to mind;

I was doing the approach in February several years ago with a group, including Jay Hui, up the snow covered road to Abol Campground before our Katahdin summit.
We were all strung out along the road when we noticed a large snowshoe hare bolt out of the woods and down the road towards us. We all expected it to veer off but it kept coming.
It ran probably 50 yards down the road and then straight through the middle of our group. If I had my wits I could have leaned down and scooped it up.
It probably would have let me too, because just then a large Pine Martin bolted out of the woods on the hares trail. The Pine Martin veered off as soon as it saw us. Smart Rabbit !

Late fall camping with my boys when they were younger on the AT, probably 5am and not half awake, I heard what sounded like a horse or a moose barreling through the woods towards our tent.
It kept coming and getting louder to the point that I moved to cover my boys with my body, expecting to be trampled. The freight train passed with no damage or injury. Not even a breeze or rustle.
Awake and outside later, I inspected our tent and site and determined there was barely enough room for a fawn to have run past the tent. More likely a fat, nut hunting squirrel.

 

[Driver8]

I've seen four porcupines, two up close - southern slopes of Race Mountain, near Bear Rock Falls in SW Mass, August 2010, and in Greylock's Hopper, near place where Money Brook Falls Trail and Mt. Prospect intersect and the former crosses the brook. Saw a beautiful barred owl in Meriden, CT between East and West Peak on the Metacomet/New England Trail. Have seen numerous snakes, memorably two four-foot-plus black rat snakes, one in Meriden at the Halfway House, also on shoulder of West Peak, and one on Bradley Mountain near the Southington/New Britain line. Never have seen a moose, bear or poisonous snake.

Oddly, the nearest I've come to peril, that I know of, is very close to home - near the West Hartford/Avon line on the Metacomet, between Rt 44 and Farmington Ave, there seems to be a pack of coyotes in residence. Heard them howling and yapping, hauntingly, maybe 6 years ago as I passed through.

The cutest wildlife moment has to be the "alarm clock chipmunk," at first light the morning of July 7 at Beaver Brook Shelter, which climbed a dead tree about 20' NW of the shelter, rattled off loudly for a few seconds, then promptly descended. I swear, it looked and acted like a mechanized decorative animal on a German alarm clock. We all got a laugh out of it. The light was too low to get a good pic, alas.

 

[tomcat32]

I live in dead center of Maine and from my house I have seen within walking distance, Moose, deer, bear, mink, porcupine, bald eagle, fox and coyote. I see about a dozen moose a year on average. My best trail spotting that was somewhat rare was a marten that I got a few pics of. I had a couple bobcat sightings, one in Maine and one in PA Strangest experience, I was nailed in top of the head hard enough to bleed by a goshawk in Colorado.