Tired of tame trips? Remove the barriers between you and North America's
wildlife and get face-to-snout (or beak) with manatees, eagles, and more.
by Gretel H. Schueller
Watching wildlife from a distance or through the windows of a bus gives
you a glimpse of animals in action. But if you're looking for a front-row
seat, try a vacation where you can feel the fur of a black bear as you
attach a radio collar, or guard a nest while more than a hundred tiny sea
turtles break out of their eggs. With a mix of classes, hikes, and hands-on
work with biologists, you can experience firsthand some of America's great
wildlife. What's more, you're usually helping to protect the animals you're learning about. Most of the programs are for adults, but a few
also cater to children and families.
1: KAYAK WITH WHALES
Northern Lights Expeditions,
Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Sleek black-and-white orcas, as long as 28 feet, are common navigators around the islands and waterways between mainland British Columbia and Vancouver Island. Here, you can paddle among pods of orcas as they rise to the surface and listen as their explosive exhalations echo off the cliffs. No previous kayaking experience is necessary in these quiet waters: Even the belly flop of a seven-ton bull will barely rock the boat. Other common marine residents include harbor seals and minke whales. The area also lies in the migratory path of many birds. Nights are spent camping on islands of Sitka spruce and red cedar and listening to the distant sound of howling wolves.
Contact: Northern Lights Expeditions, 800-754-7402; www.seakayaking.com.
Cost: Six nights for $1,195 per person, which includes camping
gear, all meals, equipment, and guides.
2: STUDY BISON
Yellowstone Association Institute, Wyoming
Get a taste of what it was like when swarms of buffalo roamed the plains. Spend a few days at the Lamar Buffalo Ranch in the northeastern corner of Yellowstone National Park, watching bison herds rut and learning about the great symbol of the West. Led by ecologists, classes explore the natural history of America's largest land animal. (An adult bull can weigh as much as 2,000 pounds and stand as tall as six feet at the shoulder.) The institute offers a variety of other biology and ecology courses, including a family horse-packing trip through Yellowstone.
Contact: Yellowstone Association Institute, 307-344-2294;
www.yellowstoneassociation.org.
Cost: $50-$60 per person for one to five days, including tuition
(cabin and meals are extra).
3: SHEPHERD SEA TURTLES
Caretta Research Project, Georgia
Dimpled with turtle burrows, the beaches of Wassaw National Wildlife Refuge provide a protected nesting site for hundreds of threatened loggerhead sea turtles. From mid-May through early August, the females crawl ashore and scoop out nests in the sand with their rear flippers, depositing more than 100 eggs in each. That's when your guard duty starts: moving, protecting, and monitoring the nests. Turtle patrol requires patience and late nights as you wait for the tiny flippers to break through the sand. Each year, from mid-July through early October, scores of soft-shelled turtles the size of silver dollars head for the warm Atlantic Ocean by the light of the moon--safely escorted by volunteers. (The project operates under an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which administers the refuge.)
Contact: Caretta Research Project, 912-447-8655; divebuff2@aol.com.
Cost: $500 per person for a weeklong session, which includes accommodations
in a cabin, meals, and transportation to the site.
4: TRACK BLACK BEARS
Pisgah Black Bear Sanctuary,
North Carolina
Take to the woods with biologists to catch black bears. As you help attach radio collars, you'll feel that beneath those round ears, floppy feet, and soft fur is one rock-hard bundle of muscles. Along the crests of the southern Appalachians, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, you'll help researchers understand how bears are being affected by habitat changes. Be prepared to hike up steep mountain trails, bushwhack to sampling sites, and radio-track in the wee hours of the morning.
Contact: Earthwatch Institute, 800-776-0188, x189; www.earthwatch.org.
Contact: $1,395 per person for 19 days or $1,295 for 15 days, which includes a campsite and meals.
5: BABY-SIT CRANES
International Crane Foundation, Wisconsin
In the heart of Wisconsin, flocks of cranes dance across grasslands and hunt frogs in wetlands. Fifteen species of cranes make their home here at the International Crane Foundation, including the sandhill crane, the endangered whooping crane, and the towering sarus crane, which at six feet is the tallest flying bird in the world. In addition to offering guided hikes through crane habitat and an exhibit, the foundation is the home of Crane City, a breeding facility for crane species. From May to October, you can support the captive-breeding program by helping to raise endangered crane chicks from four-inch hatchlings to five-foot juveniles; "chick parents" feed, exercise, and protect their brood, from first steps to first flight.
Contact: International Crane Foundation, 608-356-9462; cranes@savingcranes.org.
Cost: Guided tours, $7 per person; "chick parenting" is free but requires a four-hour-a-week commitment.
6: MAP MANATEES
Mote Marine Laboratory, Florida
In the murky waters of Pansy Bayou, it takes some practice to spot manatees–despite the fact that these animals weigh 900 pounds and measure more than 10 feet long. And that, unfortunately, is the creature's undoing. The slow-moving manatees are no match for Florida's 1 million motorboats, which kill more than 50 manatees each year. That's why researchers conduct surveys of these "sea cows" around Sarasota Bay in the summertime, when the coastal traffic is heaviest and most dangerous. Volunteers assist biologists in studying whether certain manatees return to the same spots, how the animals use different habitats, and what draws them to certain areas. From a boat, you'll learn to scan for manatees and record their position, markings, and other information. You may also snorkel through the seagrass beds where manatees feed.
Contact: Earthwatch Institute, 800-776-0188, x179; www.earthwatch.org.
Cost: $1,895 per person for 12 days, which includes a campsite, meals, and ground transportation.
7: HOWL WITH WOLFES
International Wolf Center, Minnesota
Deep in the boreal forests of northern Minnesota, near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, some 2,000 wolves run wild. This is also the site of the International Wolf Center. You can explore the center's exhibit and take courses in wolf biology. Practice howling in hopes of getting a response from the center's resident wolf pack. And see wild wolves by joining the biologists who track them. Learn how radiotelemetry works, then board a plane to find local packs. On the ground, you'll explore the surrounding area, looking for kill sites and other signs of wolves.
Contact: International Wolf Center, 800-359-9653, x2; www.wolf.org.
Cost: Trips and programs, which range from one to seven days, cost between $40 and $750 per person. For most trips, lodging, meals, equipment, and instruction are included.
8: HERD WILD HORSES
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, Virginia
Each year, on the last Wednesday and Thursday of July, the firemen of Chincoteague, Virginia, become cowboys. About 150 wild horses that roam the barrier island of Assateague are rounded up and led, during low tide, across the channel to Chincoteague Island. About 60 foals are then auctioned off so that the herd doesn't overpopulate the island. If you can't make it to the roundup, you can see the horses at their refuge on Assateague, where trails wind along fields of cordgrass and beach grass. In summer, guided tours are offered daily. Camping facilities and lodging are available in the area.
Contact: Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, 757-336-6122; Assateague Island State Park, 410-641-1441, www.nps.gov/asis/home.htm; Assateague Island Tours, 757-336-6154.
Cost: Adults $8 and children $4 for guided day tours through the refuge.
9: HIKE WITH LIZARDS
Canyonlands Field Institute, Utah
Tread carefully. As you make your way through Utah's sandy-red canyons, speckled mint-green lizards dart across rocks and bask on boulders. Others, resembling miniature dinosaurs, creep along crevices. In the canyons of the Green and Colorado rivers, Arches and Canyonlands national parks, and the La Sal Mountains, you'll learn about desert and river ecology while hiking and rafting. The institute offers a variety of science classes and expeditions year-round.
Contact: Canyonlands Field Institute, 800-860-5262 or 435-259-7750; www.canyonlandsfieldinst.org.
Cost: The programs, ranging from two to six days, cost between $75 and $700 per person. Meals, guides, equipment, and transportation are provided.
10: WATCH SEABIRDS
Olympic Park Institute, Washington
On the Pacific shores of Washington's Olympic National Park, where rocky tidepools are brimming dinner bowls, black oystercatchers, black turnstones, and surfbirds feed on the feast. Within the tidepools, life is encrusted on life encrusted on rock: In one square foot you can find hundreds of animals, from anemones to whelks. Harlequin ducks bob along in beds of bull kelp floating in the water. And in the distance, rhinoceros auklets, tufted puffins, and other seabirds soar. The institute, equipped with a science lab, offers a variety of courses and outings for all ages.
Contact: Olympic Park Institute, 800-775-3720 or 360-928-3720.
Cost: Courses start at $15 for a few hours to $299 per person for a five-day stay, which includes instructors for most courses, plus a cabin and all meals.
11: SPY ON GRIZZLIES
Teton Science School, Wyoming
In a place where wildlife still outnumbers humans, this two-day adventure with wildlife biologists virtually guarantees sightings of bears–furry masses of muscle weighing 500 pounds or more. The trip begins in Jackson Hole and travels north through Grand Teton National Park to the northern reaches of Yellowstone. Lamar Valley, often called America's Serengeti, teems with bears, gray wolves, bison, and herds of elk. The Teton Science School offers a variety of other outings and programs for children and adults.
Contact: Teton Science School, 307-733-2623; wildlife@tetonscience.org.
Cost: A two-day trip is $425 per person and includes hotel accommodations, food, gear, and transportation.
12: RAFT WITH RAPTORS
Birds of Prey Expeditions, Idaho
There are more than 482,000 acres in the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, a place where golden eagles, prairie falcons, kestrels, and a variety of hawks and owls make their home. Get a bird's-eye view of young raptors hidden in their canyon-wall nests, then raft below them on the Snake River. Come face-to-beak with an eagle at the home of Morlan Nelson--of Wild Kingdom fame--where he cares for dozens of injured birds. Also tour the World Center for Birds of Prey (208-362-8687), a research and breeding facility in Boise.
Contact: WSRT/Birds of Prey Expeditions, 208-327-8903.
Cost: Prices range from $92 per person for a one-day tour to $466 for the deluxe three-day trip. Hotel lodging, where applicable, is included, plus meals, guides, and local transportation.
LEARNING MORE
Free Vacations and Bargain Adventures in the USA, by Evelyn Kaye. Blue Panda Publications, 1998.
Wild Encounters: The Best Animal-Watching Adventures in the U.S., by Diane Bair and Pamela Wright. Willow Creek Press, 1998.
Wildlife Watcher's Handbook: A Guide to Observing Animals in the
Wild, by Joe LaTourrette and the National Wildlife Federation. Henry
Holt and Company, 1997.
TO VOLUNTEER with the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service at one of its more than 550 refuges across the country,
call 800-344-9453 or visit http://refuges.fws.gov/NWRSFiles/general/volunteers.html.
© 2000 NASI
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