Your Daily Dose of Cute Wildlife

Seeing a wild animal on trail can make for a particularly memorable hike or backpacking trip. Whether it's a family of fluffy, whistling marmots or a lone bear chomping their way through a huckleberry bush — there's just something magical about sneaking a peek into the lives of our local fauna. And, we really love being able to relive some of those moments through your trip report photos.

• Have a photo you'd like to share?
• Our annual Northwest Exposure Photo Contest begins in August — and we have an entire category just for flora & fauna shots!

To share some of that joy with you, we rounded up some of the best (and cutest) animal photos from trip reports over the past few months. We also have some tips for taking spectacular — and ethical — photographs of wildlife on your upcoming trips.

Photo by demonstrate.

Zoom lenses can help you get reeeeal up close and personal to wildlife without having to get physically close. Just check out those teeth! Trip reporter demonstrate saw this marmot hanging out along the Skyline Lake trail.

Photo by Joseph Kiesel.

It's not every day you see a fox on trail — but trip reporter MaoVador was lucky to catch sight of one of Mount Rainier's resident foxes on their early August trip to Burroughs Mountain.

Photo by FilipTD.

On an early morning trip to Grand Ridge, trip reporter FilipTD ran into this friendly bunny enjoying a chill morning in the greenery.

Photo by Jasper & the Girl Scouts.

Bird watching is one of the best parts of an urban hike! Trip reporter Jasper & the Girl Scouts saw this wonderfully fluffy downy woodpecker at the Mercer Slough Nature Park.

Photo by FrozenFoto1.

Is it really a trip to Ingalls if you don't see goats? (Yes, but it sure is neat to catch sight of a few). Trip reporter FrozenFoto1 saw this group of goats during an overnight to the lake.

Photo by cynhw.

Deer may be commonplace in our backyards, but we still love seeing them on trail, and trip reporter cynhw captured a beautiful photo of this deer during their hike to Palisades Lake.

Photo by geezerhiker.

The Puget Sound is a great spot for watching shorebirds. Trip reporter geezerhiker spotted this due of a flicker (left) and a kingfisher (right) during a July trip to Wiley Slough - Fir Island.

Photo by BeaverDawg.

Trip reporter BeaverDawg saw this pika peeking out from their home in the talus fields near Bench and Snow Lakes.