As a wildlife photographer I have utilized all sorts of blinds. “Anything that works” is my motto.

In order to get the footage I want there are those times that I have set up in the middle of a stream with a few interesting results such as having a red winged black bird build its nest on one corner of the blind or being visited by great blue herons and alligators to having a cottonmouth water moccasin swim through the blind and pause for a rest on my booted foot.

The British refer to the blind as a, ‘hide’ and that is probably a better name for it, after all it is your object, to, ‘hide’, or ‘conceal’ yourself from your subject animal.

Almost anything can be turned into a blind. A clump of bushes to conceal yourself with a good field of vision at the front is nice.

Here in Florida one of my favorite blinds is constructed of palm fronds. Cut off and the stem jammed into the ground the fronds form a nice wall from which to take your photos and the fronds grow back quite nicely and they are bio-degradable.

I have used a tree stand but prefer to be on the ground for several reasons not the least of which is, if you decide to fall you don’t have near as far to go before you hit the ground and photos taken from a tree stand have, well, sort of an, ‘up there’ appearance that is not really all that natural.

Some people of necessity use what are known as ‘hi hides’, blinds that are raised above the ground far enough to keep one from large creatures with sharp and pointy claws and teeth such as tigers and the other members of the big cat family.

But, as you are aware we don’t have tigers here and I have already indicated I prefer to shoot from the ground.

Yes, draw me crazy if you will but if it is at all possible I am going to shoot from ground level, the lower being the better. Photos of any animal are more impressive from that low down angle.

Not long ago I dug a pit blind near a well used bear trail. A pit blind being exactly what the word indicates it is nothing more than a hole in the ground large enough to hold yours truly and the necessities for the day. And in case you are wondering said pit is roughly in the shape of a shallow grave. (Wimps have even been known to sit on a cushion bought along for the purpose.) Shooting from such a pit enables you to aim and shoot the camera from the lowest of all practical angles right down there on ground level.
From that perspective even a chipmunk looks impressive but it usually is not chipmunks I’m after.

On the day in question I had set my video camera on its tripod and settled myself comfortably on my wimp cushion to begin my vigil.

One of the things wildlife photographers do quite well is wait.

I usually bring a book along, something that will inspire me in some way and I always carry a notepad and several pens for I find that sitting and waiting is also conducive to creative writing.

I had been sitting there for perhaps a half an hour when something caused me to look up and there, coming toward me was a smallish bear, little more than a hundred and fifty pounds.

Now there is an interesting phenomenon that occurs when a bear is walking toward you and it is this, the closer he gets the larger he appears! This rule can be applied to any beast that possesses large sharp and pointies.

When the bear was about fifty feet from me he paused, laid down, and began eating acorns and I stopped holding my breath.

About half an hour passed with the bear completely unaware of my presence as he lay on the ground and gobbled acorns. Everything was relaxed.

Quite suddenly the bear lifted his head and stared down the trail. It was obvious my visitor was nervous when he jumped to his feet and continued to stare at whatever he had heard or smelled.

By this time my curiosity was definitely aroused and I was also staring down that trail trying to see what was coming.

Another bear! A big bear was coming down the trail.

The small bear had stood his ground but when he saw that larger bear he decided that he should be someplace else and he ran. He knew that as far as the larger bear was concerned he was just so much meat.

The only problem was the large bear was walking toward the smaller bear and when the smaller bear ran he ran right at me.

I ducked down and the bear ran right over the top of my hole and seeing as I was in my hole that meant that the bear ran right over me knocking my camera over in the process.

Now there are a couple of things one could do in similar circumstances.

(1) You could lie in the bottom of your grave-like hole and suck your thumb.

(2) You could check to see if you remembered to bring any T.P.

Or, (3) You could thank the good Lord for taking care of old men , children and foolish wildlife photographers.

Oh well, another experience to be jotted down in the old note book of memories.

You have a nice day now ya hear, Chaz

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