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I have spent time in remote parts of North America that have seen few if any humans in several decades. The thing you notice in that country is that there are a
by jandrewrogers 2y ago
I have spent time in remote parts of North America that have seen few if any humans in several decades. The thing you notice in that country is that there are a lot of animals and the animals behave differently when they see you than animals almost anywhere else. They’ve never seen a human before, for generations, and so you are a novelty in their environment that they know nothing about.
Interestingly, humans (without canids) apparently don’t come across as much of a threat by default. I would be approached by curious animals that in any other environment would never allow themselves to be remotely that close to a human. For lack of a better description, these animals also had much more “personality” than the wild animals you see near civilization.
Until you’ve seen the actual wilds, it is easy to forget how much of the “wilds” are actually quite zoo-like.
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- EB-Barrington 2y agoIn remote parts of the Chernobyl exclusion zone, I saw wild approach closely and then be hand-fed. I had the same thoughts as you - these animals don't behave as expected - it's like they haven't yet learned that humans can be dangerous.
- MrLeap 2y agoI live out in the country. Not quite "wilds" but it's about a 45 minute drive to the nearest walmart and we drink water out of a well. It's remote enough that only a few cars drive by a month. I've also found that the animals behave differently out here, or appear to anyhow. Maybe it's just there's more sensory room to notice the differences. There's a family of small furry rodents that greet me a few feet away from the porch every morning. Birdsong also has a load of hidden complexity to it I've never noticed. Go outside every day and listen to the songs. There's persistence, modification proposals and consensus reaching among birds over days and weeks. I don't know a thing about birds, but it's clear there's a lot of fascinating stuff happening among them. We have an "armadillo buddy" that lives under the cabin. Clouds of bats swarm between the trees at night and coyotes howl at the moon. There's got to be dozens of rabbits. They'll let you walk right up to them before they run off. Once had to wait for a family of 10 cross the gravel driveway on our way home. Another time there was a large cougar just chilling in the yard. Having never lived in a rural area until my 30's, it's wild how much activity there is and how close it is to us. How much of this is because nature doesn't have to work as hard to survive around our cabin, and how much is just being able to notice it? It's a mix for sure.
- idontwantthis 2y agoWhy did you decide to move out there? It sounds nice and relaxing but I think I would get lonely, or bored.
- toast0 2y agoI get lonely, but why bored? Plenty of stuff to do on a big property (you don't usually have a postage stamp lot in rural that deep), and you can watch nature, or probably all the mass market entertainment too. Not many discos out so rural, and not a lot of dining out either, but 45 minutes from a Walmart implies close to something.
- plasticchris 2y agoI had a similar experience with wild bison - I’ve spent time around domesticated cattle and the wild ones seemed much more intelligent and aware. They would react as soon as you showed your silhouette on the ridge top.