We saw lots of wildlife in Colorado. Rocky Mountain National Park has many herds of elk. Sometimes the elk sit near the roads. All the tourists pull over to the side to take pictures. There are signs posted warning us not to approach wildlife but some people get out of their cars and walk among the elk with their cameras. The elk looked sleek and strong this time of year. I hear they're not always this pretty. But the elk isn't why I screamed. We saw two moose on the other side of the continental divide where the water drains into the Colorado River. The moose were standing in a small stream munching away. I love seeing moose. I bought a stained glass depiction of a moose head to hang in the window in honor of this sighting. The moose isn't why I screamed. When we stopped to walk on the tundra trail, high above the tree line, I didn't think there would be any animals up this high and in this desolate place. I was wrong. The tundra was
teeming with life. White and black butterflies flitted about. I couldn't believe how many of these butterflies were up there. The butterflies were reckless. They would fly across the path and crash into my legs. We saw grasshoppers and chipmunk like creatures. A roly-poly brown creature that looked like a woodchuck was busy on the tundra. He turned out to be a marmot. I was told that when you hike in the tundra, marmots will follow you. If you stop to urinate, they will hurry to lick up the urine because they crave the salt. I was advised that if I had to stop and pee on the tundra, it's best to pee on a rock. If you pee on plants, the marmots will eat the plants to get the salt and damage the plants. The marmot wasn't why I screamed. Actually I didn't REALLY scream. I didn't have enough breath in my lungs to let our a real horror-flick scream. My scream came out more like a scared moan. I was sitting on the deck of the cabin in a lawn chair. I was trying to overcome my altitude sickness by swallowing Aleve and drinking lots of water. I had the Estes Park newspaper in my lap and my red stainless steel water container in my hand. A hummingbird flew by. I thought it was a ruby throated hummingbird but something wasn't quite right. The throat wasn't ruby, more of a red. And the head looked different. Turns out it was a broad tailed hummingbird common in alpine areas. This hummingbird flew back again to check out my red jug and see if it was edible. It flew and hovered right in my face. I am talking RIGHT in my face. We were seeing eye to eye. That bird was way inside my personal bubble. And it stayed hovering there. That is when I semi-screamed. The hummingbird's long beak was just inches from my nose. You might think I'm a woos to scream because of a hummingbird. Don't judge me until you've had a hummingbird beak hover inches from your nose too.
teeming with life. White and black butterflies flitted about. I couldn't believe how many of these butterflies were up there. The butterflies were reckless. They would fly across the path and crash into my legs. We saw grasshoppers and chipmunk like creatures. A roly-poly brown creature that looked like a woodchuck was busy on the tundra. He turned out to be a marmot. I was told that when you hike in the tundra, marmots will follow you. If you stop to urinate, they will hurry to lick up the urine because they crave the salt. I was advised that if I had to stop and pee on the tundra, it's best to pee on a rock. If you pee on plants, the marmots will eat the plants to get the salt and damage the plants. The marmot wasn't why I screamed. Actually I didn't REALLY scream. I didn't have enough breath in my lungs to let our a real horror-flick scream. My scream came out more like a scared moan. I was sitting on the deck of the cabin in a lawn chair. I was trying to overcome my altitude sickness by swallowing Aleve and drinking lots of water. I had the Estes Park newspaper in my lap and my red stainless steel water container in my hand. A hummingbird flew by. I thought it was a ruby throated hummingbird but something wasn't quite right. The throat wasn't ruby, more of a red. And the head looked different. Turns out it was a broad tailed hummingbird common in alpine areas. This hummingbird flew back again to check out my red jug and see if it was edible. It flew and hovered right in my face. I am talking RIGHT in my face. We were seeing eye to eye. That bird was way inside my personal bubble. And it stayed hovering there. That is when I semi-screamed. The hummingbird's long beak was just inches from my nose. You might think I'm a woos to scream because of a hummingbird. Don't judge me until you've had a hummingbird beak hover inches from your nose too.
No comments:
Post a Comment