Easiest Wild Animal to Photograph
What's Your Choice for Easiest Wild Animal to Shoot?
Marmot, Squirrel, Ground Hog, Woodchuck, Rodent, Whistle-pig, Land Beaver, or Varmit?
Actually all of the names above have been used to describe this member of the squirrel family and all of them are correct, including Puxatony Phil. With the possible selection of the birds which frequent our yards and parks, though we don't normally think of birds of this genre, of a wild animal, my guess is the common Ground Hog. I visited Palouse Falls State Park in Eastern Washington and upon arriving in the early morning, it was nearly frosty out. Quite chilly on a July morning for that part of the country and had come to shoot the falls from a very high promontory viewpoint, so by the time I had taken out my gear, set it up and shot for an hour, I relocated to an alternate area right off the parking area, and then set up again for another shoot of the falls. It is a real gem of a waterfall to photograph, partly because of its height. It drops 143' taller than a full quarter mile; 768 feet, or 234 meters. As I shot adjusting for the morning light coming directly into my lens, since to get another view is nearly impossible without the use of climbing gear, I noticed from the corner of my eye, not 20' away, a marmot. It was not moving much, but had placed its body length to catch the light from the sun, so as to warm up prior to any serious movement. It was so lifeless that I couldn't even detect breathing. It's eyes were closed. So I continues to shoot the Palouse waterfall until the marmot's slight movements again caught my eye. And what really caught my attention, once it woke fully was it patient attention to my presence.
Not that I felt it was fearful of me, quite the contrary, even when I leaned over the fence to get a closeup, it only perked up as is my impeding upon its territory was an invitation to it. Suddenly it came right toward me and ended as close as it felt was comfortable just 3 feet from the safety fence I was behind. I decided at that point this must be the easiest wild animal to shoot and later discovered why. It apparently is common for visitors to offer them peanuts, which because they are of the squirrel family, Sciuridae, pleases them no end. I didn't have any peanuts nor would I have fed it as I am a believer that wild animals need to fend for themselves, or we risk pulling them from their innate ability to find food from the wild and not the parking lots. So there he/she stood, awaiting a free lunch which would never appear. never, that is, until the next visitor with a bag of peanuts arrived.
I could literally have reached out with my hand to feed this marmot and because of past experiences with other human visitors it had no fear whatsoever.
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