The Joy of Seeing
by Deb “Walking Carrot” Hunsicker
“There’s some kind of animal down there.” I shift my attention from the bag of trail mix I’m focused on and scan the area my husband is pointing to – an open, grassy area next to a small lake. Then I see it too. A small dark shape is slowly working its way along the edge of the lake, nose to the ground.
We are quite a distance away, on a rocky ridge high above the lake, so at first we aren’t quite sure what we are seeing. We watch for a few minutes and tick through the possibilities. Moose? No, it’s too small and not the right body shape. Bear? No, it’s got a long tail. Wolf? We’ve been hearing wolves howl for the last few miles, but the legs are too short. Badger? The fur color is wrong, and this isn’t badger habitat. And then we take a look through the 30x zoom of a cell phone camera lens and can hardly believe our eyes – it looks like a wolverine! We have had a lot of amazing wildlife sightings in our years of hiking, but we have never been lucky enough to have a wolverine cross our path. Until now, until hiking for days to reach this small lake in the heart of a rugged wilderness area.
As we sit and watch the animal, the wolves begin howling again, two of them howling back and forth across the lake basin. Are they discussing this rare carnivore who is wandering in their territory? Or maybe it is our presence that has them talking? The animal seems mostly unconcerned by the wolves and continues on its way, perhaps looking for dinner or a snack. We savor the moment and continue watching until finally the small dark animal, having completed a full circuit of the lake, retreats into the forest. It’s getting late and daylight will soon be fading. Time for us to pack up and retreat into the forest too, to find a place to pitch our tent for the night.
After we return home, we share our fuzzy photos and videos with some wildlife experts we know. Their reply is not what we wanted to hear – the animal we saw most likely wasn’t a wolverine, but rather a rare “dark phase” red fox. Initially, I felt a bit disappointed after believing that we had finally seen the elusive wolverine. A fox? We’d briefly considered it as a possibility, but all of the foxes I’ve seen before were red or gray. I had no idea that foxes could have black fur. The disappointment fades as I think back to that quiet hour we spent, perched above a beautiful mountain lake, experiencing the joy of seeing a wild animal going about its day, all while listening to wolves howling in conversation. It was a perfect late summer afternoon in the wilderness. And we just saw a rare, dark phase red fox.
How cool is that?
Author Note: This incredible experience happened while we were hiking in the Great Burn Proposed Wilderness area. The Great Burn, much like the proposed Scotchman Peaks Wilderness, spans the Idaho-Montana divide. For more information on this unique area and effort to save it visit the Great Burn Conservation Alliance.
Deb Hunsicker, also known by her trail name Walking Carrot, has hiked the triple crown (Appalachian, Pacific Crest, and Continental Divide Trails) and lives in Sagle with her husband (and adventure buddy) where she works as an environmental consultant. When not enjoying the outdoors she enjoys knitting, curling up with a good book, and snuggling with her 2 cats.
Let’s see the photos? How did the creature move? Was it light-footed and seemingly smelling everything, or was it closer to the ground and moving like a stocky weasel. Were you up in the high country? You guys are pretty experienced and I would think you would have an idea by the body movement – Even “Experts” can be wrong, unless it was Jeff Copeland or somebody like that. What was the habitat? – Brian
We had Doug Chadwick review grainy fuzzy photos and videos and he concluded it as likely a dark phased red fox.