The three most common wildlife mistakes visitors make in national parks are feeding, rescuing, and getting too close. Most people who make them think they're doing something harmless. Some think they're helping.

In this episode, Ranger PamPaw draws on nearly four decades of National Park Service experience to explain what actually happens when wildlife gets conditioned to human food, when a well-meaning visitor picks up a fawn, and when a visitor closes the distance for a selfie with a bison.

You'll hear about bear school at Katmai, the remarkable return of black bears to Big Bend National Park, the baby squirrel call at San Antonio Missions, and a close encounter with a mother bear and her cubs on the Basin Loop Trail — an encounter that worked because a ranger knew when to step aside.

This episode is about the chain of good decisions that makes wild places stay wild — and your role in it.

CHAPTERS:

0:00 — Cold Open: The Kid at the Wall — Rainbow Curve

02:04 — Segment 1: Feeding Wildlife — Why It Matters

08:20 — Segment 2: The "Rescue" Instinct

13:06 — Segment 3: Proximity, Phones, and the Selfie Problem

16:37 — Segment 4: What Respectful Wildlife Observation Looks Like

20:57 — Closing: The Chain of Good Decisions

Ranger PamPaw Podcast is hosted by Mark Tezel — known to his grandkids as Ranger PamPaw — after nearly four decades with the National Park Service. New episodes drop every other Wednesday. Part of the Tezels on the Road family.

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Visit www.tezelsontheroad.com/rangerpampaw or email me at rangerpampaw@tezelsontheroad.com.

Thanks for walking the trail with me.

I’ll see you in the park.