Episode 20: Weather is the Biggest Predictor of Wildlife Behavior

Let’s face it: if you can’t find animals to photograph then you are going to have a very tough time being a wildlife photographer. It doesn’t matter how sophisticated your autofocus system is or how expensive your lenses are. Without wildlife, without the ability to predictably find and approach animals, you can’t be a wildlife photographer.

In this episode, Jared and Annalise discuss one of the most important predictors of wildlife behavior in the winter months: weather. But more than just snow, more than the cold, it’s the barometric pressure that photographers need to understand. This transcends latitudes as barometric pressure impacts wildlife from the tropics to the tundra.

This is one of those topics that needs to be discussed but never is within the wildlife photography community. Jared and Annalise discuss photographing great gray owls and gray wolves in the middle of hunt to explain the importance of this concept on their photography.

 Key Takeaways

• Animals live or die by the ways in which they respond to changing weather

• Wildlife photographers can dramatically increase their success rate in the field by understanding how animals are going to behave, feed, move, and react to weather

• Barometric pressure is often the most reliable predictor of wildlife behavior in the winter months

• Stories about photographing great gray owls

• The relationship between wolves and bison