What manner of beast makes such marks?

[Atellus]

... thinks the king penguin chick in the image below, submitted for the One Earth Award.

Full article at Footprints

I put this here because it's not a question about photography, just a thought that seems very relevant to many discussions here that touch on the impact of our activities and whether woodsmen/bushcrafters really do only have a minimum impact.

Heisenberg is still right. You cannot observe something without changing the nature of that which you observe.

 

[jojo]

It's a very humbling thought for me in a way, to see that a simple footprint has some impact on the rest of the community that live there. We must also leave our smells too. But those are a natural by product of any animal moving about it's business.

Much worse, we (humans) leave litter, rubbish, fishing lines. Perhaps the wild creatures do get used to it in the same way we get used to seeing mess or traffic or graffiti everywhere. It's still not an excuse to leave it though.

I make every effort to never leave anything when I am out and about and most of us here I am sure do too. Pity that we are generally in a minority.

This is a timely reminder to be aware at all times of the impact we have.