At North Louisiana Wildlife, we put animals first and photos second. We love a sharp frame as much as anyone, but if getting it means stressing out the critter…or us ending up in the ER…it’s not worth it. We follow the ethical guidelines laid out by the Audubon Society and the North American Nature Photography Association, with a healthy dose of common sense.
Here’s how we keep both ourselves and our wild neighbors safe.
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Never Touch a Wild Animal
Number one rule for a reason. Picking up, poking, or posing wildlife is dangerous, for them and for you. Get too close and you risk a bite, a defensive charge, or an abandoned nest. Even worse, animals that get too comfortable around humans may act defensively toward the next person they meet, which usually doesn’t end well for them.
We give animals plenty of space so they can keep doing what they’d be doing if we weren’t around. It keeps them calm, keeps us unbitten, and makes for more natural photos anyway.
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Don’t Bait or Feed Animals
Handouts mess with wild diets and instincts. Baiting predators with live or dead prey changes their hunting behavior, and tossing human food to ducks and geese leaves them malnourished (bread is basically candy to a goose). Young birds fed junk may never learn to forage properly at all.
To keep them healthy and us safe, we let animals find their own meals.
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Don’t Flush or Call Wild Animals
Scaring animals into flight just to get a picture stresses them out and wastes their energy. Same goes for artificial calls: dragging an owl out with recordings only makes it burn calories it needs for hunting.
We wait it out instead. Sometimes that means the animal disappears deeper into the brush, but more often it leads to photos of natural behavior we’d never have staged.
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Don’t Use Flash
A sudden burst of light can startle, blind, or interrupt an animal’s routine. We stick to natural light, even at dusk and dawn. (We’ll admit: years ago, one poor glossy crayfish snake got an accidental flash. Lesson learned.)
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Never Remove Leaves or Limbs from Around Nests
Birds and other nesting animals often choose sites that are hidden from predatory and parasitic animals, which is why we shoot nests as they are. We never remove limbs or leaves from in front of a nest, as that would potentially make the nest visible to predators who would eat the eggs or chicks and to parasitic birds like cowbirds that will replace the eggs from the nest with their own eggs.
Moving foliage around nests may also upset the nesting animal into leaving the nest and cause the eggs to lose the heat necessary for them to hatch. If we can’t photograph a nest from a safe distance through camouflage, then we move on.
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Don’t Destroy Ground Foliage
Many animals rely on foliage, including wildflowers, for food and camouflage. Wildflowers are particularly important for the survival of bugs like honeybees. We avoid destroying vegetation by staying on marked paths, right of ways, and roads as much as possible. When we’re off marked paths, we stick to well-worn deer trails. Not only do they help us not destroy valuable habitat, but they often lead us closer to other animals who use the deer trails.
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Respect Private Property and Posted Areas
We don’t cross fences, ignore warning signs, or sneak into gated areas to get a photo. If there’s a “No Entry” sign or seasonal closure, we respect it. These are often in place to protect roosting birds, denning mammals, or fragile habitats.
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Avoid Drone Use Around Wildlife
Drones stress out birds, mammals, and nesting animals. In many parks and refuges, they’re illegal anyway. We don’t fly over rookeries or dens, and honestly, we usually just leave the drone at home when we’re around wildlife.
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Keep Groups Small and Quiet
Even well-meaning photographers can cause a stir when they show up in groups. We limit group size and keep voices low so we don’t scare off wildlife or stress them into hiding or fleeing.
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Limit Repeat Visits to the Same Nest or Den
We don’t keep returning to active nest or den sites just to document every stage of development. Too much attention can alert predators or stress parents. We get what we can from a distance and leave it at that.
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Be Smart About Sharing Locations
We don’t geo-tag or publicly share precise locations of rare or nesting animals. Poachers, collectors, or even just careless tourists can cause harm. If we share a location, it’s generalized or sent privately to someone who’ll use it responsibly.
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Don’t Block an Animal’s Escape Route
We never put ourselves between an animal and where it needs to go. If it’s near water, a den, or a tree line, we stay out of the way. Cornering an animal can cause panic or aggression, which puts everyone at risk.