Remote trail cameras wonderfully showcase the natural behavior of wild animals, but that’s not always the case.
For example, the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project recently shared footage showing a wolf in Yellowstone National Park licking a trail-cam’s lens.
“Just a short clip of some wild wolves from Yellowstone, courtesy of our colleagues at the National Park Service,” the RMWP stated March 27 on Facebook.
The footage, posted below, shows a lead wolf become curious about the camera before stopping to lick the device. Several other wolves ignore the camera.
The footage was somewhat reminiscent of a clip featured here last December, showing a coyote’s comical response after encountering a trail camera in Canada’s Yukon Territory.
In the footage, posted below, the coyote bows briefly before bounding from a perceived danger.
David Troup of Yukon Wildlife Cams stated: “Inevitably wildlife can detect peculiarities in their environment, whether it’s by sight, sound or smell.”
Last September, one of Troup’s cameras captured footage of a grizzly bear responding like the Yellowstone wolf.
Troup wrote on Facebook: “A family of grizzly bears find a camera and investigate the peculiarity in September, with a quick view inside mom’s mouth included.”
–Editor’s note: A similar version of this post, with more focus on Yellowstone wolves, was published April 18