I pretty much grew up in the Great Outdoors.
As a kid in the Adirondacks in the 1960s and 70s, I had a lot of time to myself in the woods. I spent many hours playing with chipmunks, and got to know a lot about white tailed deer by hanging out with them. I can identify a fair number of bird species and tell you a lot about the ecology in the Adirondacks, based partly on having gone to college for Forestry but mainly on my own observations.

I can build a fire easier than anyone else I know. I can construct a crude but serviceable shelter out of things I find in the woods. I know of a lot of edible plants in that part of the world, and have learned well how to track things through the woods. I don't think I'm quite up to living off the land, but I can certainly make myself comfortable in the woods.

And why did I develop such an interest?

See, my parents bought land up there when I was an infant, and began building a house there in 1967. By 1970 we had a second house underway that was habitable within the year. This meant that every weekend and every summer for about as long as I can remember was spent there, working on the buildings or cutting firewood or whatever needed to be done. So I spent a hell of a lot of time in close proximity with my three sisters and Mom.

You know how a group of women living together will have their menstrual cycles synchronize? Well, there were certain times when regardless of the weather it was best to go find an isolated corner of the woods and hide.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Thu 29 Mar 2012, 18:10, 4 replies)

You had me at 'playing with chipmunks'
But the rest was well worth a click too
(Capo, Thu 29 Mar 2012, 21:42, closed)

Seriously, I did play with them.
It takes a few days of patience, but you can tame them enough to get them to run up your leg and sit on your knee for a peanut, and eventually get them to sit on your shoulder for one. I used to have one that would go into my shirt pocket for a peanut.

Or, if you feel like pranking them, you tie a peanut to a length of string and tie the other end to a long stick. When the chipmunk takes the peanut you can lift him off the ground and swing him back and forth. (Of course, then you toss him a peanut to compensate for freaking him out.)

And then, of course, there was the Bugs Bunny box-on-a-stick trap...
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Fri 30 Mar 2012, 14:49, closed)

I had no idea where the Adirondacks are
looked on the Google. Looks like fine country indeed, im quietly jealous.
(technocore, Fri 30 Mar 2012, 0:15, closed)

Check these out...
www.oldforge.net/river/
www.oldforge.net/mccauleytop/index.html

The lake visible in the distance is the one I grew up on.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Fri 30 Mar 2012, 14:50, closed)