Wildlife is everywhere, but if you are not looking for it sometimes you just won’t see it. Many moons ago, I used to run in the hills above Malibu on the many trails in the Santa Monica Mountains. It was quite invigorating, and often difficult with all the steep trails. Sometimes I’d zone out and not even notices all the sounds and critters scurrying about, and other times I’d notice every little movement, sound, and could feel the presence of other animals.

They were well aware I was there, some would come out to look, others would go and hide, and often how they acted was more attributed to my mood and displacement at the time. If I was jogging along in a peaceful fashion, they didn’t seem too worried at all, mostly curious, but if I was hard-charging and trail-blazing, attacking the hills or blitzing down the trail, the amount of activity increased ten-fold, as I was a perceived threat to their safety. Animals are that way.

Now then, I’d like to make a point in all this, and that is that wildlife is everywhere, but so many people are unaware. On one of the same trails I was on, and one that I often took, there was a lady who was attacked by a mountain lion. She was a suburban dweller like I, and was out enjoying a peaceful run, but obviously she was in her own world, perhaps wearing her Sony Walkman, as us jogger used to use in the old days. And the mountain lion attacked her.

I’d seen other animals such as coyotes, and larger animals from time to time. I had also seen mountain lions, and generally I noticed them, and perhaps my self confidence, size, or acute knowledge of what was going on around me caused the mountain lion to think twice. I’d never been attacked, and when I was younger in those days, I was probably have been stupid enough to challenge the animal, had it confronted me. I doubt if I would’ve ran away, I would’ve picked up something, stood my ground, and then waited for a chance to attack.

But, someone from a suburban area who doesn’t know much about wildlife, or is not paying attention, probably never saw all the things that I saw, or felt what it was like to be one with nature, amongst the other animals. Indeed, I hope you will please consider all this if you take a hike out in the woods, and go out to enjoy nature. Rest assured, you won’t be alone, even if it’s just you and the trail. Think on it.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes writing 22,900 articles was a lot of work – because all the letters on his keyboard are now worn off..