Wildlife Encounter

[nightdog_barks]

silverjackal, I saw this and thought of you immediately.

Wildlife photographer in the Great Smoky Mountains has an up-close-and-personal encounter with a young bull elk

Comments

[silverjackal]

Heh, thank you for sharing that. :D That said, allow me please the rant, and excuse the colourful language required. It is *necessary*:

... from a safe and respectful distance...

Bullshit. Judging from the start of the shoot the man had ventured *far* *far* too close. It's October, it's the rut, you do not go within 10 m of elk. You do not get out of your vehicle and sit on the road like an idiot, looking for a "good angle" because your "good angle" is going to be upwards, for the people retrieving your corpse to find assuming your camera has not been smashed when an incensed bull elk dances a farruca on your pulped remains.

A young bull elk decided to start some trouble

No. The human was entirely to blame. The elk actually isn't looking for a real fight, he's challenging the human for a test spar like he would another young male elk because he is badly habituated, doubtless because of all of the morons going too close to him all his life. The other humans around the photographer on the ground are equally idiotic are also to blame. What asshole sits in their vehicle and photographs while someone is potentially being trampled? One real blow, just one, could have blinded, maimed, or killed the man on the ground. I count at least two people who were culpable -- whoever took those photos and the morons on the other side. You're in a vehicle -- drive forward *slowly* blowing your horn. The elk *will* back of.

... and then at 6:11 they employ that measure to chase off the elk to save camera gear. Not the actual human. Do I have words adequate for this stupidity? No. If I had my way they'd be charged with harassing the wildlife, fined, and banned for life from that park (because unfortunately they can not be banned from everywhere with wildlife ever).

[nightdog_barks]

:D

RANT AWAY, DEAR JACKAL. Yep, even I could tell that the photographer was the one at fault. He shouldn't have been out of the car in the first place. That was a big animal, and I could just imagine the damage a sharp, straight antler like that could inflict.

[silverjackal]

The carefully worded spin at the beginning tells me that whoever put the sequence together *knew* they were in the wrong, and were trying to shift the blame, too. The whole thing is asinine in the extreme. Here, have some macros that sum up my feelings. ;D

[nightdog_barks]

LOL! And yes, exactly. Who goes out of their way to emphasize that they were "a respectful distance" away? "It's not what you might think! It was the elk's fault!" Plus who knows what another person's definition of respectful distance is? Ten feet? Twenty? The next county? :D

Stay in your car. Roll down your window. Take pictures. Roll up window.

[silverjackal]

Respectful distance in this case is 10 m, minimum. *Minimum*. Fifteen or 20 is better. Thirty better still. Telephoto lenses were invented for a reason.