What is rareOften, photographing wildlife reminds me of these lines from William Meredith's "Sonnet on Rare Animals": "It is this way with verse and animals And therein lies an ethical problem for photographers: how close, and in what manner, should we approach animals in the wild? Species tolerate different proximity to humans, but wildlife managers often offer this simple guideline: if the animal stops its normal behavior and attends to your presence (e.g., watches you warily, adopts a defensive stance), you are too close. However, all sorts of situations complicate that rule, as I recently discovered when making this photograph of a Trumpeter Swan, taken at the Seney National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan's Upper Peninsula:
We puzzled over this close encounter until we saw a sign posted further down the shore imploring visitors not to feed the swans. Sadly, I suspect these swans had become accustomed to people doing just that. I was grateful for the opportunity to observe the swans at close quarters, but reminded that we need to keep wildlife wild.
Keywords:
Seney National Wildlife Refuge,
Trumpeter Swans
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