These pictures are all of me interacting with wildlife,whether through actual physical contact in a controlled space or just capturing these beautiful creatures with my camera (or my mother’s, so to speak). After seeing every one of these animals, it has only enhanced my dream to work to save animals and their natural habitats.
The first two pictures are of a young deer who was very friendly with the visitors at this national preserve. By the markings on the top of its head, I could tell that it was a male fawn, as his antlers were barely starting to show through his head. He was extremely friendly, I could tell that he was young, if only because of his small stature. While his spots are gone at this point, his mother was not far off. In the background of the first picture, while they are not visible from the camera’s angle, the deer’s herd was grazing, and one of the does in particular was keeping an eye on the fawn that was spending time with humans and being fed peanut butter crackers. What surprised me about this beautiful animal was how comfortable he was around humans. While he is a wild animal, he walked straight up to me, and even allowed my mother to take that picture of him.
Now look at the next picture, the picture of the doe in the grass. She is much more wary of humans, and that is mainly due to the fact that she is from an urban environment. In this picture, she is actually in a forest preserve on the edge of a bike path. The way her ears are positioned can tell you that she is nervous around my mother and me, and while she did allow us to take this picture, she fled after a few minutes. If you look at the fawn’s ears, his ears are pointed forward, which is a sign for curiosity and shows that the animal is comfortable with you.
The next picture is of a herd of elk, in Elk Grove Village. While these are a tamed herd, they are by no means domesticated. However, they are comfortable enough with humans to graze peacefully and not have to worry about being killed by hunters. The stag himself has his head down while he grazes, though his ears are pointed towards the doe next to him, making sure that she is alright and in no discomfort.
The picture that is after the deer is of a garter snake, also known as the garden or gardener snake. It is a harmless snake that is native to North America, and this particular snake lives in Winter, Wisconsin. I know this because I have a cabin that is in that town, and I found this little reptile sunning himself between two rocks. While he does look small, the way he is curled up clearly shows that he is longer than he actually appears. This little guy didn’t move from his spot the whole time that I was visiting with him; however, you can tell he isn’t sleeping by the way his head is positioned: it is raised off his body, and if he was sleeping, he would have rested it on his body for more comfort. This shows that he is very aware of his surrounds, but he wasn’t feeling threatened enough to strike or even to flee.
These next two pictures are of a baby alligator, about two feet in length from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail. He is old enough to be without his mother, as the mother generally lets her hatchlings leave when they are a foot long. The way this alligator is laying is allowing him to both be cool and be warm at the same time. As reptiles are cold-blooded animals, they cannot regulate their inner body temperature as mammals can. So, it is easy for him to get overheated. Once he feels too warm, however, he slips into the water to cool off and find food, as you can see he is doing the second picture with me. He allowed me as close as he was comfortable, and then as he moved into the water, I made no move to go anywhere closer, as animals, just like people, need their personal space.
Speaking of personal space, some social creatures, like these adolescent California Sea Lions, don’t really seem to need their space—if they are with their own kind. These sea lions loved to float by the docks in California, and one way to allow them to do this without floating away from their colony is to interlock their tails and fins together so they keep close. The reason I know that this group are adolescents is because the older, more scarred, and bigger sea lions were on a plastic raft made just for them, and whenever one of this group tried to get on the raft, the bigger sea lions would bark and show their teeth at the smaller ones.
I have had many different interactions with many different creatures, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I want to continue having these interactions throughout my life, whether it’s through rehabilitation or just taking pictures of them in the wild. I loved seeing all of these animals, and my parents very nearly had to drag me away in each of these pictures. Seeing animals in their natural environment and not having to worry about whether they would live or die at that moment is what makes my dream solidify each and every day, and every vacation that I go on.
