I spent Saturday morning (and by morning, I mean - starting at 4am) in the White Mountains of NH, touring around with the camera gear. The goal was to re-shoot Bemis Falls in Crawford Notch. It's a gorgeous waterfall near Areathusa Falls that I really love and I wanted to improve on how I shot it a few years back. Anyway, as I'm driving - I pass by Bretton Woods, and further down the road a piece, I see something that might make a good shot, so I pull over. I get out and walk down to a stream to check it out and off to my right I see the tops of a couple of small trees move. Then shake. So I wait a couple minutes - and then I see this -
This cute little cub poked its head above the brush - and it started to climb these really small trees, trying to get at some berries.
He/she was one of two that were in the brush, but the other saw me and retreated. This guy/girl - however- was way more concerned with the berries...
As he was reaching for the berries, the small tree he was in (about 5-6 ft off the ground) bent in half and almost broke- but that didn't stop him! At one point- he was hanging upside down, holding on with one hind claw! It was hilarious!
And before you ask - YES- i was very aware of my surroundings and kept a constant eye out for Mom. When Im out shooting wildlife- I always shoot with both eyes open. You have to listen carefully and be aware of your distance. In this case- I was about 30 yards away- but there was a creek/river between us and I posed no threat to the animals. This little guy saw me -looked directly at me - and could not have cared less..
He just kept going about his berry-eating business....
I watched him/them for about 10 minutes. That was enough - and then I let them be.
I could've stayed all day and watched them- but I always think that if I'm lucky enough to walk into a situation like that, I want to be respectful of the animals and not interfere with them. After 10 minutes, I turned and left.
It is so cool to unexpectedly walk into a moment like that and get to see it -
It makes me love where we live all the more-
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