Natural Reality Check

Outdoor Etiquette

I know this isn't exactly what I promised in the entry before last. I feel like, since I'm planning on wrapping things up in a couple of entries, I ought to combine a couple of topics.

Today I will be writing from experience and stuff I've learned and stored in my noggin. If it's wrong, well I apologize, there are plenty of ways to either verify or refute what I'm writing. So if you don't agree, keep it for yourself and do your own homework. There. I've had my rant. Moving on.

A lot of people like to visit National Parks and Wilderness Areas for hiking, fishing, camping and other reasons. These are fun and I won't condemn people for doing so. I will however cringe at some of the stupid, dangerous, disrespectful, things I've heard of people doing.

Stay On The Established Trail

All National Parks, State Parks, and Wilderness areas have maintained trail systems. They want you to stay on them for a reason. It's not political, it's not irrelevant, the rule exists to protect visitors and the nature they've come to observe.

While I was working in Shenandoah National Park, I knew of some people who broke this simple rule and ended up in a bad situation because of it.

One foggy fall day, a boy went up to Black Rock, a geological feature near the historic Big Meadows Lodge. He was taking pictures and managed to fall off a small cliff. A few hours later he was reported missing. He had to spend all night out in the woods with a search party looking.

This incident could've been avoided if he'd stayed on the trail. (Well that and he should have waited for better weather.) Thankfully, he survived but it still probably wasn't a good night.

Another example of why you should always stick to the trail is from my own life. Yes, I'm a hypocrite, but I will never do this again.

I was in college and had gone hiking with some people up to this area called The Wind Caves, in Logan Canyon, Utah. The trail was extremely steep and it was getting dark. Two people who thought they knew the area decided we should take a "shortcut".

Without waiting for anyone else, they started off and quickly left the rest of our group. All us had followed them in the direction indicated. We ended up stranded on a cliff top with a thin ledge between us and the path down.

What happens when you have a bunch of twenty somethings and a rock ledge? No flashlights, no safety equipment, no experience, we climbed across. I was terrified and out of shape. We could have been badly injured or killed.

Even if you don't care about the living beings on the side of the path. Or think about the historic landmarks that may be present, you should still stay on the trail.

Don't Feed or Touch The Wild Life

I really can't stress this enough. We have moved on from subsistence culture of hunters and gatherers. (If you have a permit to hunt, fish, are a wildlife biologist or game warden, fine, that's your business.) Therefore there is no good excuse to get close enough to touch a live wild animal.

Purposefully getting close to a wild animal when it's not your job is dangerous. You could be bit, trampled, gored, catch a disease or even killed. It's not worth it for a photo op, a dare or any other reason.

A good rule of thumb is to keep at least ten feet between you and anything larger than a sparrow. If it's a predator like a wolf, bear or bobcat, try to keep a minimum of fifty yards between you and said animal.(this should probably extend to large ungulates such as deer, elk, and moose. They can be very dangerous close up.)

Nature lovers seem to adore things with wings or tiny fluffy animals.(and bigger things) Some of the starry eyed idealists might think they're doing a favor by sharing tasty snacks with these native creatures...they're not.

See a lot of the food we eat has been cooked or processed in some way.(this is not a nutrition blog so please let's leave that for somewhere else.) This makes for a lot of readily available "nutrients" for these creature's microbiome.(e.g. the bacteria on their teeth and in their guts) If an animal eats human food as part of their diet, it can lead to dental problems, obesity and digestive problems.

As mentioned before, animals can't always digest the same things humans do. So that's another reason not to share food with wild life.

Another worse case scenario is that the animal expects people to feed it. That can get to be a nuisance or dangerous. I will give you some examples.

Wildwood, New Jersey is home to the world's longest Boardwalk. Every year this stretch of shops, restaurants and planks is full of tourists and seagulls. It's a fun place...until a seagull steals your food.

Why do they do this? Because some, thoughtless fool threw them a couple of fries because it's no big deal right? Nope! By throwing them food, the seagulls learn that they're entitled to it. If people don't give, seagulls swoop in and grab. It's gotten so bad, some open dining venues have put up deterrents to keep avian thieves at bay.

Demanding animals don't end there. My mom told me the story of how when she was a little girl, she decided to share a bag of potato chips with a deer that wandered by her family's camp site. The deer loved the crunchy salty snack...but it ran out. My mom, was still holding the bag and the deer started pawing at her. Since she was a small child, this could have ended worse. Before her dad managed to chase off the deer, it managed to injure my mom badly.

It's probably fortunate that she hadn't been trying to feed a bear or an alligator. That has the potential to turn lethal.

Leave Nature Where You Find It and As It Was

Unless you have the permission and training to take samples, it is generally not okay to take anything you find in a National Park.(In fact, in the US, it is considered a felony to remove any rock, animal, plant or artifact you find. Even where mushroom hunting and berry gathering are permitted, strict guidelines are in place to conserve numbers to help animal populations survive.) While I cannot speak about State and local parks and beaches, always call ahead to see what regulations are in place.

In general your best option is to leave the plants and other things alone. I don't care how cool that indigenous arrowhead is, do not pick it up. By removing the artifact you destroy the context and anthropologic value of such discovery. Leave that thing there. All plants play a role in their environment; this is not your garden or back yard, don't yank 'em or take 'em. Rocks provide shelter and habitat to both flora and fauna, leave them there! Even decaying logs are habitat, they were here before, give these ecosystems respect. That goes for any microbes, fungi or animals found in the wild as well.

Right, beat that one to death. Moving on.

Nature Is Not Your Trash Can and Poop Responsibly

Yeah this shouldn't need to be said again. But the "great outdoors" is not your trashcan or ashtray. Also if you have to "answer the call" and there is no facilities, make sure to dispose of your waste responsibly. At the risk of sounding like Leviticus, don't poop near a water source and bury it deep so the rain doesn't wash your germs into the river, lake or stream. (Also, this should be common sense, don't poop near where food is being made. Make sure to use and have a sanitation kit, to clean up yourself, using leaves is not a good solution in fact it's dangerous.)

Always Plan And Stay Together

You should always know how long you'll be out on a hike or camping trip. That way you know what to take and you can let somebody know where you're going. When you do that you're less likely to end up being a headline like "Unidentified woman/man's Skeleton Found in [Some Area],Believed to Be [Insert Name], Had Been Missing For Weeks!"

Also, especially in the mountains, weather conditions can change rapidly. One minute it's a bright warm day, the next you got a storm blitzing your butt with hail! Always make sure to dress in layers and have a change of clothes in a water proof pouch. Make sure to have a first aid kit on your expedition.(a small one works most of the time.)

Take plenty of water. If you drink from a river, spring or lake, you run the risk of catching e.colli, Giardia or another infectious disease. Giardia and Amoebic dysentery are both life ruins you can't get rid of.(Antibiotics only work on bacteria. The parasites that cause both of those aren't, so they can be difficult if not impossible to treat.) Also there may be other contaminants and no matter how much treatment solutions and filters you run that water through, there are some contaminants you can't eliminate unless you have some government budget technology. So if you can, bring your own water. Filter and treat as a last result.


The Bottom Line
There's a lot here. I am pretty sure I've missed stuff like insect repellent and checking for ticks.

Anyways, if you take nothing else from this just remember three things. Be prepared, the wilderness in general is not to be treated like your back yard, wild animals are not your pets so no food sharing.