April 26, 2016 - News Post

My wife and I like to hike.

In our travels, we've encountered eagles, elk, sea lions, sea turtles, salmon, skunks, boars, wild horses, dolphins, salamanders, sharks, bats, alligators, mountain goats, all sorts of things. But we finally managed to scratch two wild animals off our list that have been there for a long time.

First up: bears. For years, we've wanted to see bears from a safe distance.

This weekend, we spotted a black bear and her cubs foraging a few meters from the side of the road. We just had good timing when driving by. They were chewing on something in the bushes. Whether that was plant material or some hiker, we will never know for sure, but I'm guessing from the lack of screams that it was vegetation (that is the main part of their diet, after all). Black bears are not typically aggressive, and they seemed to be perfectly content ignoring us as we got out of the car, took a few pictures, then hopped back in the car because the side of the road was more threatening than the bears.

Second "wild animal" of the weekend: the dung beetle.

On a separate hike, we were avoiding a path placed pile of poop when we noticed something walnut sized rolling away from it. Upon closer inspection, we could see a tiny beetle pushing poopie across our path. Sadly, I don't know enough about beetles to identify the exact species, but it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. If you spot this all the time, I hate you. I can't believe I had to grow as old as I have before seeing this. The beetle seemed so content pushing the poopie, I am seriously considering taking up poop rolling as a hobby.

So yeah. I had a good weekend, made some friends with the creatures of the forest (well, spied on them and then left abruptly, but that should count for something).

What did you do? Play on the computer or something?

Note: If you use my contact form to actually tell me whatever it is that you did, please be patient for a response. I'm still working through all the messages I recently received (thanks again). After all, those dung beetles aren't going to watch themselves.

See you Friday!

-Jeff