How to handle people harrassing wildlife

[Dmacfarl]

She was definitely too close to a sow with cubs but that last part isn't accurate. It's not becoming used to humans that's dangerous for bears, it's equating humans with food. For decades, humans walked the paths with Alaskan coastal

brown bears in Katmai (until the visitation got too big and they had to try to keep them more separate) and the bears didn't care at all. They didn't associate the humans with food because waste and food stashes are tightly controlled in Katmai.

I agree. What I should have said was just what you stated. The association is the danger. But we have had grizzly attacks in the bush with no food involved. Usually it’s due to surprising the bear or a diseased animal. I’ve seen a grizzly chase a cyclist in the Bow Valley!!

 

[2Lab]

I was at Yellowstone several years ago and the park had already lost a tourist to the boil water and thin surfaces and there had been at least one bison goring. In the Lamar Valley my wife and I were out of the truck, but near by, watching the bison and elk herds when a group of bison started grazing toward us. We watch for a few minutes and thought we should get back into the truck. The car next to us had a family out of the vehicle with kids running and parent starting approach the bison. I said to father that he should corral his kids and head back to the car as the bison can be very dangerous. I was polite and spoke in friendly manner but he told to go and commit a biological impossibility and mind my own business. Needless to say I got into the truck with my camera and watched. The family walked away from car, the family was no within the small herd (12-16 animals) the bison pretty much walked by the family but when one of bison snorted it scared the living poop out the family. Unknowing and some knowing people can be so stupid when they are around wild animals. I could imagine this family visiting Kruger NP in the RSA where I understand it is like Yellowstone, a drive yourself through park.

 

[JPatton]

If you're in a park or other protected area, tell a ranger or person who works there. Otherwise, I usually just shake my head and move on. People are crazy and you never know with whom you're dealing if they will understand they were harassing the animal or if they will stick a knife blade between your ribs. I think the chances for both are about even. In the Smoky Mountains National Park, I saw some fools throwing rocks in a tree to get the 3 bear cubs to come around to the other side for a better photo. I took their photo and a photo of the RV they got out of. A mile or so down the road was the Cades Cove visitor center. I showed a photo of the RV and the people throwing rocks to a ranger. He pulled the RV over. Not sure what happened after that.

I agree with Coombs
#1 seems pretty cut and dried. You could get her photo and / or a photo of the license plate number and notify Florida DFW but not sure they would do anything.
#2 what kind of snake was it? If it was a boa or a python. If so, then those are invasive and killing them is legit in that state. It may be a clear case of harassment but I wasn't there.
#3 - well, it would have served the brat right if the animal bit him. He would probably not make that mistake again.

Jeff

If #1 happened on Marco Island he could have notified the local PD. In the past they have told people not to approach past the line and not to try and make the owls fly.

 

[john1970]

On my recent trip to Florida I witnessed 3 cases of people harrassing the wildlife. Maybe my defiinition of "harrassing" is too strong...I don't know.

1. While visiting the burrowing owls, I watched a woman with out-of-state tags walk up to the owl's hole, stick her cell phone down to the owls face (maybe 18" away) to snap photos. Then, wave her arms and make noises to try to make it move around. I guess the owl guarding the hole like a statue wasn't interesting enough for her. She was right next to the hole and could have collapsed the burrow.

2. At Circle B Bar, I heard a little girl scream and turned back to see a crowd of people pointing at something in the grass. Someone was 100' away from the crowd, but ran very quickly over there to see what they were pointing at. They then stepped off the path into the tall grass (probably 2 ft off the path into the grass) to pick up a 4 ft. snake. They held it up high for the crowd to see, holding it by the neck behind the head with the full length dangling. I don't know if they wanted to show off that they weren't afraid to pick up snakes or just hold it up for them to snap cell phone pics. They then dropped it back into the grass and took photos of it.

3. There is a boardwalk path leading up to the visitor center at Circle B Bar. A couple feet from the walkway was an Armadillo feeding on an ant hill. I saw him as I left the center and there was a crowd of people watching it. I stayed to see what they would do. A teenage boy (maybe 16-18) was there and his little sister kept saying, "touch it, touch it". His parents were watching. As he reached down to "pet" the Armadillo, I said to him in a stern voice: "Don't mess with the Armadillo". He quickly retracted his hand and they moved on. The parents said nothing.

I am not a confrontational person, but years ago I confronted someone who was harrassing an animal and it didn't go so well. The situation escalated and then the animal is in more danger. So I don't know if it's best to intervene or not. In the case of the woman and the owls, she got bored and left. Intervening seemed like it would have created a bad scene. The Amadillo was a little different and seemed like my warning was okay. The snake was just dissappointing...so so dissappointing.

How should you handle an active scene with someone harrassing wildlife? Do all of these scenarios constitute harrassing wildlife (I think so, but maybe wrong)?

Case 1 and 3 are definitely harassment and I do not understand why anyone would do such a thing. When photographing wildlife I always keep a comfortable distance from the wildlife. Even then sometimes the wildlife comes too close to you. I have photographs small song birds at Mass Audubon Sanctuaries and sometimes the birds land on the lens hoods of the lenses.

 

[macwalter]

For me here in Alabama it’s mainly people with dogs ignoring signs posting no pets in critical areas. I often try to nicely say there dogs are not supposed to be here. one woman took exception a few years ago and followed me down the beach screaming at me the whole time until I told her if she didn’t stop I was going to report her. I find many dog owners tend to feel like these restrictions should not apply to them even park people. It’s sad to me that so many people have such ignorance about wildlife and only think about the outdoors as a thing to exploit. Photographers can often be bad about this as well. I do know I was not as aware in the past but experience will teach one ways to improve. Also any herpetologist will tell you to never pick up a snake behind the head as this is a predatory action and the snake will not take it kindly You should not handle wild animals if at all possible but if you need to move a snake use a stick and carefully move it out of the way or just let it move on its own. Sounds to me #2 was an abuse.

 

[Flyboy]

Thanks for the feedback so far. Case #2 is less clear, but this is a location where alligators are beside the trail and the rules are pretty clear that you are to watch out abd not engage with any wildlife. I’m pretty sure it was a black snake (not venomous) and the person dropped it right back where they picked it up in the grass (not moving it away from the crowd). Either way, I guess my biggest question was about what to do in clear cases (like #1) and it’s tricky because I don’t want to be attacked by a human who didn’t have a problem harassing wildlife. But I also feel like if we don’t protect the animals (that we’ve taken habitat from), then who will?

Not sure of the species? Younger Cottonmouth Moccasins look amazingly similar (at least to my inexpert eyes) to harmless Water Snakes, but, you never know! We had a situation where a woman was attending a concert in one of our outside Botanical Gardens. Animals roam freely! She picked up, and was bitten by a smallish rattlesnake. She later sued the Garden because of her idiocy! Responsibility? Common sense? What's that? WHERE has it gone?

 

[Box Brownie]

Not sure of the species? Younger Cottonmouth Moccasins look amazingly similar (at least to my inexpert eyes) to harmless Water Snakes, but, you never know! We had a situation where a woman was attending a concert in one of our outside Botanical Gardens. Animals roam freely! She picked up, and was bitten by a smallish rattlesnake. She later sued the Garden because of her idiocy! Responsibility? Common sense? What's that? WHERE has it gone?

In a litigious environment it seems everyone is seen to be to blame except the plaintiff!

 

[eaj101]

I was docent for a number of years at a park that often had a small population of over-wintering burrowing owls. In a joint effort by the city and local Audubon chapter that area of the park had been delineated with low walls and rocks and in the winter a low line of steel fencing and wires was added. The park is an established dog walking area and is posted everywhere with signs stating the dogs were required to be on leash.

We (the docents) went though a yearly training on everything from owl biology to the history of the park, but it was reiterated time and again that it was not our job to enforce local regulations (i.e. keep unleashed dogs out of the owl area). I went with a khaki vest, an Audubon name badge and several signs about owls that I'd hang on the wires, and try to interest people in the owls and the necessary of conserving them. Sometimes I took a spotting scope or my 500mm lens on a tripod to help people see the owls. A burrowing owl is surprisingly hard to see, even at 50', unless you know where to look. (we discourage pointing because predators often can understand the gesture).

People generally were friendly and curious, even supportive, about the owls and the effort to conserve them. But there were also a number of people who ignored the leash requirement and whose dogs ran everywhere. There must be something about dog owners that makes them feel entitled, because I've seen the same behavior at other parks and trails and discovered that suggestions that they restrain their dog are oven met with aggressiveness and anger and rapidly discovered why we had been taught to not be enforcers. It doesn't work and it's dangerous to your health.

You can't argue that these people were ignorant, because the park is plastered with signs with big letters about leash requirements. I still don't know of an antidote to stupidity.

-eric

 

[RikWriter]

There must be something about dog owners that makes them feel entitled

I think that's a huge overgeneralization.

 

[Woody Meristem]

I still don't know of an antidote to stupidity.

There is no antidote to stupidity other than education through enforcement or for them to qualify for a Darwin Award -- https://darwinawards.com/darwin/

 

[eaj101]

I think that's a huge overgeneralization.

I'm sure it is, and there are a lot of conscientious dog owners. On the other hand, there have been a lot of controversies in the SF Bay Area about dog owners demanding access everywhere, including National Parks and Seashores, and including areas that are off limits to due to sensitive wildlife (like endangered snowy prover nests). So I'm probably excessively annoyed on the topic.

 

[Butlerkid]

Seems like this topic has been covered well but good information is no longer being shared. The thread is closed.