Establishing a known presence

It was during one trip into the bush that I realized just how quickly things seemed to appear and dissapear, for example, cars on the gravel road would just come out of nowhere and dissapear just as quickly. Not only visually but audibly. When we spoke in the past (on SS Radio) about a heightened sense of awareness when we are in the bush, I keep thinking about and wonder if a background process kicks in and tells the brain "ignore" when it's something that we are familiar with, such as a car and the associated road noise. Who knows? Is this why it comes and goes so quickly? We just tune it out?

So this opens a question about how a "being" can identify that "something" is out of place or approaching the immediate area. I believe that animals can certainly sense a car approaching far and long before a human can, so does this mean that it gives them that extra time to take cover and hide? Yeah, you know, it probably does. Until the "threat" passes and all gets quiet again.

Now if there was something out of the ordinary that was making noise or was of a visual or olfactory nature, yet it remained somewhat subdued and contained, would your interest be perked? Would you approach the area to take a peek?

Having your presence known yet remaining non-offensive or overwhelming just might be the ticket to getting those bold little critters to come forward and take a peek. Look at the time that the fox came up from behind me during one of our expeditions. We had a couple lights on, we were talking in a normal tone of voice. There was nothing really intimidating at play and so the fox approached.

I think its this sort of activity that needs to be evaluated for it's value when it comes to research. Some prefer a stealth approach, leaving as "small" of a footprint as possible during their visit. Others prefer to just setup camp and act as they would if they were on a regular camping trip. Whatever you decide, consider your objective. The more you act differently than what you normally do might draw caution and skepticism by a creature who may be smarter than you think. Just be yourself. It may just be the ticket we need to see the big guy let it's guard down.

J