Context

...this is the high tundra slope where i found the tattler. Animals exist within their relationship to the world around them, so now, when I think of tattler i think of this - and viceversA. Reminders: the Tattler breeds here, in this tenuous layer of the biosphere, then crosses the Pacific to winter under palm trees. Seeing arctic birds for the first time on their home turf has been an epiphany for us; having seen many of them in the tropics, where they winter, had already been a privilege. Short of shapeshifting, there's no greater intimacy (and grounds for empathy) than to getting this close to being (with) another animal. Ask a life-long hunter (or naturalist), let him tell you what it feels like to FEEL the life of your prey. Hey, at least my birder and hunting friends will know how thrilled I was to see the Wandering bloody tattler. It only took me three weeks of constant searching, from the Yukon south. Obsessive? Neurotic? Primitive? Suit yourself. We're closer to our ancestors than you think.