King of the Jungle

OK...so this one is not really about backpacking but... for all of us who venture many miles in the wilderness hoping for a fleeting glimpse of wildlife looks like we're looking in all the wrong places! This week there were 2 close encounters with predators right in our own backyards. In Croton-On Hudson a 75 year old man saved his daughters little pooch from a savage coyote. See Newsday online article of June 5th: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--closecoyote0605jun05,0,73883.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

In a more bazzar story, a West Milford, NJ man's 15 lb cat named "Jack" proved who's king of the jungle by cornering a black bear up a tree! See post on WINS-AM, News Radio online: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CAT_SCARES_BEAR?SITE=1010WINS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Sadly, both stories are indicative of the problem of loss of natural habitat affecting wildlife. This is particularly true with predators that need a large range of habitat to survive. Coyotes are actually beneficial to the environment by eliminating over-run smaller species and maintaining a balance in the food chain. They are rarely seen in the wild but can often be heard at night while camping. On a backpack last Labor Day weekend in the Catskills Slide Mountain wilderness, we were thrilled to hear coyotes howling at night... the call of the wild!

Black Bears sightings on the trail are also rare. My first bear encounter was unexpected: our Appalachian Mountain Club group had just completed an overnight trip on the Escarpment Trail in the Catskills without a sight of any creature large or small. After stopping for dinner at an Italian place in Tannersville we proceed to to the parking lot in the dark. Suddenly... we spotted two HUGE BLACK BEARS at the far end of the parking lot!!! They had just finished chowing down at the dumpster. As I fumbled around for my car keys to get my camera the bears stopped, gave us a bored look and slowly ambled into the woods. It was amazing!

Neither Black Bears nor coyotes pose a serious threat to humans and need to be protected. Backpackers must always string food up in bear bags to avoid problems. Likewise, residents near wilderness areas must be careful with garbage. As they say "a fed bear is a dead bear". Please do your part to preserve these marvelous creatures.

That's all for today! Thanks for reading and Happy Trails!