Wildlife Encounters of NSA Students
By Aaron E.
Fawn in the Forest by patrick8484 from Getty Images Created in Canva
NorthStar Academy has students located all around the world. As such, NSA students have experienced a vast variety of wildlife. Today, let’s go on a globe-trotting safari to find out what wildlife encounters look like for NSA students.
Our first stop is in South Africa with NSA student MJ. When MJ was very young, her family decided to go on vacation to a lake house. However, this was not just any lake house: “this lake house was known for the many baboons” that frequented the area. MJ was playing outside with a bubble blower but left it on the ground when she went inside the house. When she came back, a number of baboons had surrounded the bubble blower, and one of the larger ones had picked it up. This thoroughly upset MJ, as she very much enjoyed that bubble blower. However, when she and her family returned a little while later to look for the baboons, her bubble blower was there but no baboons. They figured that the baboons must have tasted the soap in the bubble blower and decided that they had no use for it, therefore leaving it behind when they left.
Our next encounter, again with MJ, is in Australia. MJ’s family was visiting an animal reserve, home to a variety of Australian animals that lived free from cages. During their visit, MJ and her family walked by a lake. As they walked, they noticed a strange noise in the distance. Turning in the direction of the noise, they saw its terrifying source: an entire flock of ducks was flying as fast as they could directly at MJ and her family. When the ducks landed on the path and surrounded MJ’s family, they set to a tremendous quacking until MJ and her family gave them the food the park officials had given them for the animals. They walked away wondering how the ducks could have known that they had food when the ducks had been on the opposite side of the lake, nowhere close to them.
Next, we are off to Spain to hear from NSA student Gabrio about an eventful hike in the woods with his family. Gabrio’s sister, walking a bit ahead of the rest of the family, suddenly screamed and “came running back… at top speed,” saying there was a snake in the path up ahead. Gabrio walked up to the spot and reassured his sister it was only a stick. As he bent down to pick it up, his presumed stick moved. He realized it really was a snake, jumped back, tripped over his dad, and fell to the ground. Everyone laughed and they all continued happily on with their hike.
Up next let’s visit NSA student Tiana at her home in Singapore. At one point in time, a tree was cut down near Tiana's house. After that, Tiana and her family began to hear noises in their roof space and notice traces of civet cat activity around their house. Tiana and her family have a tradition of naming animals Star Wars names, so they have named their civet cat resident Han Solo because they think that he lives alone. Han Solo still lives in their roof space and “has started coming more frequently now.”
Next stop, Virginia, USA, where NSA student Evelyn once had a wildlife experience while weeding her front yard. She “felt a presence behind” her, so she turned around and saw that there was a fawn standing right behind her watching her weed. When she turned around, the fawn was startled and ran off into the forest. Evelyn followed the fawn into the forest a little distance, and the fawn stopped to look back at her a few times before bounding off into the distance, out of sight.
Our next stop is also in the United States, on the Montana-Idaho border with NSA student and Navigator writer Janna. Driving along a winding mountain road to a college football game, Janna and her family spotted something rather rare in the area: “an immaculate unfenced green lawn.” Another cause for surprise was likely to make the lawn less-than-immaculate very soon: “a group of wild bighorn sheep munching on the grass, oblivious to the traffic!” Janna and her family now look for sheep every time they drive by that yard.
For our next stop, we remain in the United States to visit the house of Rebecca, another NSA student and Navigator writer. Where Rebecca lives in Massachusetts, the squirrels are known for being very persistent. When Rebecca’s family bought a squirrel-proof bird feeder, the squirrels were not deterred: “They proceeded to hang upside-down on the fence and swing themselves like acrobats to eat out of the feeder.” When the squirrels got tired of the extra work, they decided to simply chew open the hard plastic feed bucket and eat directly from the source, prompting Rebecca’s family to have to lock up the feed bucket.
Next, let’s visit NSA student Michaela at her home in New Jersey, USA. One night, Michaela heard a thump in her room. She thought she was dreaming but soon realized she wasn’t and that there was a bat flying around her room. The thump she heard was when the bat got hit by her ceiling fan. She ran out of her room and her father and brother captured the bat under a bucket until animal control could come the next morning. Michaela found the experience “pretty terrorizing” and has developed “a phobia of bats.”
Our final stop, again in the United States, is in the state of Maine. This is my story, which inspired me to write this article. My parents and I were kayaking the Saco River in Maine in the middle of the afternoon. Suddenly, we came upon something we had never expected to see: there was a squirrel swimming across the river. Thinking we had seen the unique wildlife of the day, we continued on our way. But then, we saw something in the water up ahead. We thought we were coming up on a family of ducks crossing the river. However, my dad soon whispered, "Are those bears?" They were! Up until that point, the current of the river had not seemed that strong; now we found ourselves trying to paddle backwards as quietly as we could. Eventually, the bears got to the other side and climbed out. We could then clearly see them: we were watching a mother black bear and her three cubs. As the cubs walked off into the forest, the mother black bear turned and made eye contact with us before following her cubs into the woods. It was a scary yet awe-inspiring experience.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of the responses to my survey. Although I was unable to include all of the stories, I greatly appreciate each one. Thank you all for your contributions to this article!
Columns: 👤NSA People
Aaron E. is a high school student from the northeastern coast of the USA who is in his second year at NorthStar Academy. He is excited to be joining the Navigator staff for the first time this year. Some of his hobbies are freshwater fishing, reading, and digital 3D modeling. He enjoys spending time in nature with family and friends and exploring it from the water. He loves most anything related to science, technology, nature, and engineering.