[at-l] Follow-up to Camping Colors & LNT

[nealb at midlandstech.edu (William Neal)]

I got curious (again) about the LNT principle of not wearing bright colors.


So far I can find no scientific principle or ecological principle to not
wearing bright colors.  Yes, I know that certain animals are attracted to
certain colors: I had a hummingbird attracted to me on the AT.  Guess he or
she thought I was a big Azalea blossom.  But some animals are more or less
color blind.  Some are almost blind beyond a certain distance or when near.
Some "hunt" and otherwise react to scents or sounds or motion.  So not all
bright colors will affect all animals.  Selectively weeding out colors to
match "all" wildlife's "needs" would be a troublesome process and maybe
impossible.   Of course you could go naked, but even skin has color.  At
least I hope it does.  There are some people on this list I would hate to
meet if they are colorless (invisible). ;-)

Here is what I found on  a page that at the bottom states:
"Copyright ? 2000 National Outdoor Leadership School <http://www.nols.edu/>.
All rights reserved; reproduction in whole or in part without permission is
prohibited. 
Produced in cooperation with Leave No Trace, Inc., a non-profit educational
corporation authorized by the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service,
Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to promote the
Leave No Trace educational message."
As to colors, the quote is
>>>Brightly colored clothing and equipment cam be seen for long distances.
In remote areas this contributes to a crowded feeling: choose earth-toned
colors to lessen visual impact.<<<
And
>>>Brightly colored tents, packs and clothing may look attractive, but stand
out in the backcountry, thus contributing to a crowded feeling. To minimize
your visual impact, select earth-toned clothes and equipment (during hunting
season, blaze orange is a safety related exception to this). Consider
carrying binoculars and high-powered camera lenses to observe or photograph
wildlife from an unobtrusive distance.<<<
As to not disturbing wildlife with colors: Most of the sites I visited
suggested keeping your distance from wildlife.  And some mentioned it being
illegal to inter-react with animals.  So anything that alerts animals to the
presence of something unusual would SEEM to be a positive things.  Most
animals will "run" from the unusual or from humans.  Those that do not have
become to habituated to humans and would probably come around anyway --
squirrels in the country are very leery of humans, but we have some on the
state capitol grounds who will run up to you like starving panhandlers.
To me it seems that the LNT hierarchy is more concerned with "true blue"
outdoors people's sensibilities than with any sound reason for wearing dark
colors and camouflage type coloring.  Yes, it does SEEM less crowded when
you can't see others.  But I would rather know there are a lot of people
around so that I could move on. (see PS).
I prefer colors just to let people know I am coming.  And to let animals
know I am near.  While I like to see animals, I do not want to startle them.
Would you want to startle a fox?  Or a bear?  Or a SKUNK!!!???  And
startling some native humans of an area can be even more harmful to your
health. (see P2S).
If anyone know of good scientific or ecological reasons for not wearing or
using bright colors while hiking, let me know.  
William, The Turtle
PS	In parts of Georgia on and near the trail, Rangers and othe special
ops groups train.  One night I woke up in a shelter.  I went to the
outhouse.  I suddenly felt like I was being stared at.  I open my eyes and
my mind wider, and saw a group of Rangers starring at me.  It is something
seeing heavily armed soldiers grinning at you.  When I came back, they were
gone.  But I took some grub and laid under the tree where the "leader" had
been -- I heard they get tired of MREs and I had excess good grub.  Next
morning I woke to MREs at my feet.  
P2S	Also, herb growers (the kind that makes you fly) have often used
parklands, etc. to grow their crops.  They have even gone as far as
bobby-trapping some trails to cut down on the casual traveler: Figuring
anyone on the trail is a competitor or a G-Man or G-Woman.  I even camped
near one place one time and waved at some mountaineers.  When I moved on a
couple of days later, I found some MJ laying in the trail where the
abandoned farm road was.
	


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