Wildlife migration isn’t just for wildebeest and caribou in National Geographic specials – it’s a topic of great concern for wildlife biologists struggling to manage wildlife here in the Lower 48. But most of us don’t think much about animals making their way across the landscape, moving from winter feeding grounds to summer pasture and back again.
A beautiful, quiet little video changed that this month. The video—by researcher Hall Sawyer with Western Ecosystems Technology and the Wyoming Migration Initiative—follows the trek of thousands of mule deer between Wyoming’s Red Desert and the Wind River Range. It literally puts you in the footsteps of these marvelous animals. In doing so, it raises the issue of protecting migration routes from total obscurity to a social media phenomenon.
Just knowing these animals make the farthest known deer migration in the world might interest you. But there’s nothing like video to make you appreciate the rigors these animals encounter along the way. Besides natural perils like mountains, deserts and rivers, humans have thrown in three highways, over 100 fences, several reservoir crossings and oil and gas fields along the way.
If you’re like me, your heart skipped a beat watching a mule deer buck trying to wedge its antlers under a high fence or listening to the bleating fawns communicating with does as they waded a cold mountain stream. I found myself marveling at the beauty and “otherness” of these animals, and felt a renewed sense of obligation to take care of the habitat they need to survive.
As we’ve noted before, visuals can make an emotional connection that words alone don’t quite manage. Since its release in late April, the Vimeo video has been viewed over 68,000 times. It has generated news coverage and social sharing – far more than would be imaginable from the dry data produced by another research study.
The take home lesson? Sometimes it pays to show, and not just tell.
Photo credit: Joe Riis
