If you’re stuck at home hiding from the coronavirus and feel as if you’re going mad, we can offer a brief interlude of solace.
Click on one of the videos below and see what cameras placed in the woods have picked up over time. You will hear no music and no narration. Just the rustling of leaves disturbed by the wind or some animal tramping around, and all kinds of birds. In the background, the sound of rushing water somewhere. And there are moments when the woods are almost silent except for that same quiet roar you hear when you press a seashell to your ear.
Watching the animals is pure enchantment. One after another comes into view, often moving with the same determination you see in shoppers at a mall. Some of the animals seem aware of a human scent near the cameras. One coyote in particular with a lot of attitude seems to know he’s being filmed. Each time he comes around, he stares at the camera, then turns around and urinates in its direction.
We can’t get enough of these and, if you feel the same way, you can witness more of these scenes here, here (both in Algonquin Park), here (Wyoming), and here (Michigan).
And please keep in mind these words of Gautama Buddha, who founded Buddhism sometime between the 6th and 4th century BCE:
The forest is a peculiar organism of unlimited kindness and benevolence that makes no demands for its sustenance and extends generously the products of its life activity; it affords protection to all beings, offering shade even to the axe-man who destroys it.
Pennsylvania Man Captures All Walks of Life Crossing Log Bridge (5:20)
The Mocassin, the Hawk, and the Owl (5:44)
Two Bears in Violent Domestic Dispute (2:53)
Estonian Buzzard Cam (3:13)
Algonquin Park Trail Cam Footage 2019 (38:55)
Related front page panorama photo credit: Adapted by WhoWhatWhy from U.S. Forest Service- Pacific Northwest Region / Flickr.
