A little bit of eavesdropping on ‘Wild Conversations’

“Have you ever wanted to feel more in tune with your wild neighbors? Whether it was the insects, the mammals, or the birds that are right outside your door?”

That’s the question posed by wildlife ecologist George Bumann in a video introducing his online course, “Eavesdropping on Wild Conversations.” As he says, “Animals are talking all around us, all the time, and in some cases, even about us.”

As a gardener, hiker, camper, or even someone who just enjoys sitting on your deck or patio, or strolling around the neighborhood, you know that when you’re outside you can’t help but notice the chatter of birds, especially near sunrise. Do you ever wish you knew what they were talking about? Bumann compares it to walking into a school cafeteria at lunchtime: If you don’t get close enough to hear the individual voices, it all just sounds like noise. His goal with the course is to teach you how to tease out the individual voices of all kinds of animals and learn what they’re communicating.

Bumann has been a lifelong observer of nature, is a researcher, guide, and artist, and has been an educator for over 30 years. With an M.S. in Wildlife Ecology, he has spent the past 20 years in Yellowstone, during which time he’s helped thousands of people learn “how to enjoy the wonders of animal language to deepen their knowledge and appreciation of the natural world.”

He asks, “what if you could engage with animals each and every day, wherever you live? What if you knew in an instant that there’s a hawk in the neighborhood, an owl in the tree, or a bear over the next hill because the birds and squirrels told you so?”

The course consists of a series of lectures, slide shows, and video lessons that you can watch at any time and as often as you like. There are nine hours of class content, plus bonus sessions including optics and equipment, sketching/journaling, photography, enhancing backyard habitat, and an intro to animal tracking. Each component has direct, actionable suggestions to immediately advance your understanding, wherever you happen to be.

I asked Bumann how appropriate the course is to us here in the Philadelphia area. He told me that, “The course material itself, is designed to be applied anywhere … and this is the real point. We strive to help folks learn from their closest and best teachers—the ones in their own back yards, gardens, and town/city parks. Helping people see patterns is key. It’s not so much about species identification, but rather noticing the interactions of a species with its environment … The program of course includes examples from here in Yellowstone because that is where we live, but it also includes many examples from all over north America, including many examples from species that are on the east coast, such as red and gray squirrels, great horned owls, white-tailed deer, coyotes, wild turkeys, etc.”

At $499, the course is definitely an investment, but there is a $150 off flash offer through 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time on Monday, November 29, bringing the cost to $349. Still an investment, but as something that you can learn from over time, as well as share with children and grandchildren, you might very well find it worth it.

At the very least, I invite you to check out the promotional video. It’s engaging, full of information, and made me want to bundle up and go outside to see what I could see and hear. As it turned out, a chickadee started talking immediately: “Chickadee-dee-dee.” From watching the video, I now knew that those three “dees” signaled a bit of an alarm, Maybe the bird was talking about me?

To learn more, go to https:// www.ayellowstonelife.com/ewcflash-sale/ Scroll about halfway down and you’ll find the video “Secrets of Animal Language.”

Pam Baxter is an avid organic vegetable gardener who lives in Kimberton. Direct e-mail to pamelacbaxter@gmail.com, or send mail to P.O. Box 80, Kimberton, PA 19442. Share your gardening stories on Facebook at “Chester County Roots.” Pam’s nature-related books for children and families are available on Amazon, at Amazon.com/author/ pamelabaxter.