As a writer, I often think about how my writing about wildlife may impact how others perceive it. Obviously, I hope that my writing encourages people to pay more attention to the wilderness; that it encourages people to get outside more and learn the importance of treating our wild spaces with the respect it requires. At the same time, I recognize that I seem to possess the strange gift of “wildlife whispering” wherever I go. For whatever reason, wildlife just love to follow me around. 

Plus, I grew up being influenced by people such as my great uncle Courtney, who catered to my interest in animals, the wilderness, and wildlife, and taught me how to properly interact with those things. Even so, he and I both have had our close calls, showing that even us “animal whisperers” aren’t immune to getting thrown off horses or charged by moose. 

The last thing I want to do with my writing is delude some poor city slicker into thinking mule deer are friendly, harmless creatures. Because, truth is, they’re not. The only reason why I am able to get as close to deer as I do, is because I know what I’m doing. And I give the space and respect those animals need. 

That said, I don’t exactly wish to share my “how to safely get close to wildlife” secrets with the general public, because A) it’s not that simple, and B) people will inevitably take whatever advice I give them as gospel, and end up in the ER with perfect imprints of cloven hooves all over their backs. Instead, I want to show people that the wilderness is important to respect and conserve, and encourage those same people to learn everything they can about the wilderness they’re surrounded by, while also sharing my own, up-close-and-personal experiences with wildlife and the wilderness. 

I just don’t quite know how to share those “up-close-and-personal” stories without inadvertently encouraging some not-so-outdoorsy people to do the same. After all, there are already more than enough “tourons” in the world. I don’t want to make people even more stupid in the wilderness than they already seem to be.