Leaving only footsteps - think again: 100 meter 'death zone' on either side of trails

[Stan]

One thing that seems to be overlooked is that animals instinctively know predator from prey. Man is a predator, though not always at the top of ther food chain. Animals know man as a predator but they don't know machines as predators. Hence, there are more vehicle-animal collisions than man-animal collisions, though the latter would be less harmful to the animal.

Prey animals, such as ungulates, will avoid man but will return if sufficiently drawn by other instinctive needs, most notably food and mate. The less obtrusive our presence the easier the draw of those other needs. That is why I tread lightly ... but carry a cast iron skillet!

 

[TigerMouth61]

http://xkcd.com/1338/

 

[iAmKrzys]

I sure hope I don't have tell my grandchildren one day what it was like to go on a REAL hike...

If we force our kids to get off trail and do "hikes" in Virtual Reality helmets then why should they care to preserve real nature in the future? This is no joke - I already see my kids build virtual worlds in Minecraft yet they whine when I suggest we go for a hike in the woods.

 

[Stan]

I sure hope I don't have tell my grandchildren one day what it was like to go on a REAL hike...

If we force our kids to get off trail and do "hikes" in Virtual Reality helmets then why should they care to preserve real nature in the future? This is no joke - I already see my kids build virtual worlds in Minecraft yet they whine when I suggest we go for a hike in the woods.

When my son was growing up I thought it was important to him to have access to technology as a tool, not a toy. Thus he's fluent with computers and other devices but had/has no joysticks, few video games and no violent or sexist video games ... now of his own choice ... but he does have, and use, a lot of outdoor gear.

 

[iAmKrzys]

I sure hope I don't have tell my grandchildren one day what it was like to go on a REAL hike...

If we force our kids to get off trail and do "hikes" in Virtual Reality helmets then why should they care to preserve real nature in the future? This is no joke - I already see my kids build virtual worlds in Minecraft yet they whine when I suggest we go for a hike in the woods.

Just to clarify - I am not advocating any form of irresponsible hiking. I suspect that most people here understand the need for minimizing the impact when we go out in the woods especially when exploring off trail. Yet I find these hikes invaluable as most of our interesting wildlife encounters occur sometimes only a few feet off trail and I hope my kids will understand that these moments are truly unique and cannot be replaced by best computer graphics in the world. It is also a great opportunity for me to teach my kids not to poke a snake with a stick just to find out if it will slither away or bite back. Instead we take a picture and look through guidebooks back home to figure out what species of snakes or birds we saw. We simply cannot train best and most passionate bird watchers without allowing them to go off-trail, but somehow I have this feeling that looking at vaguely defined (and measured) animal stress may be just a first step to restrict rule-abiding hikers from going off trail while all folks who leave their trash in the woods will remain unphased by new rules. After all, we already have plenty of laws & regulations that require people to carry out their trash yet every time I go off trail I see lots of empty beer bottles.

Finally, a picture taken off trail: