I hike the woods, wade swamps, climb mountains, etc but to photograph wildlife, to blend in and be one with nature and its energy. I'm all about protecting the environment.
The only meat I eat is a small amount of fish for breakfast, to help my memory.
When I was living on my family farm I raised my own fruit, plants, bought bulk organic items like wheat berries and rolled oats from the local food coop.
Here in Thailand I pick wild greens and buy organic, home-grown vegetables and fruit from vendors at the open market.
I used to camp outdoors year around on my Morehead, KY, farm, by the horse pasture, using a screen tent in summer, so I could keep track of meteors and follow the sounds of night animals and birds. In the winter, we didn't use the tent, but slept on the ground on a memory foam mat. Stars were very bright in winter.
At that time, some local bought, then turned loose, a male black jaguar cub, and after it matured, it did a territory sweep so that it was on my farm every three weeks. When it was around it gave a continuous territory call, scratched trees, sprayed scent, left scrapings and scat piles on the trail, and often walked directly on top of my own tracks, only shortly after I'd passed that way. It often visited the tent at night, purring so loudly it shook the tent walls, or giving a "COUGH" sound. It left huge tracks, and sometimes locals caught it on their trail cams. But it never bothered my dogs or horses.
When I lived on my eastern Kentucky family farm, I roamed the hills constantly..I knew every animal, their babies, the birds, and they all knew me. I could track animals even at night, just through sound and scent. I could read tracks, knew all their movements, the times they hunted, where and what they caught. I could track deer right into a herd and they'd never see me.
I'd be surrounded by dozing deer. Then, if the wind shifted there'd be an explosion of snorts of alarm. But usually the deer recognized me, and would even join me on my hikes, frisking on each side of me like big dogs. Wild turkeys used to step on my feet in passing, when I was sitting in the brush to get a photograph of a warbler.
When I hiked other mountains the deer there would often join me also, so I suppose they were reading my mind/energy. I would stop and stroke Black Rat Snakes and Eastern King Snakes under the chin until they wriggled with pleasure, and when I tried to walk away, they'd follow me!
If wild animals were in trouble, they'd come to my house and seek me out!
My daughter and I once were stroking some lizards while on a hike above Morehead, KY, and when we tried to leave, they kept leaping back onto our shoulders. I told my daughter to do as I do with snakes..just put them back, then RUN for it!
