Generally speaking you'll only know how an animal will react to flash after you use it. Some will totally ignore it (lizards appear to not even blink) some will turn to face it, others will simply blink and others will run away. You won't know till you use it so if you're going to use it treat it as a one shot wonder (heck your shutter is rather the same with the sound it will make) - so always make that first shot count.
As for wildlife photography there are a few truths to it:
1) It's expensive - good gear for wildlife is sadly one of the most expensive, and unlike studio or macro (as examples) there are few cheap cuts you can take. Lenses of long range and high quality are, as shown above, very expensive.
2) It's not about photography - its about tracking/stalking/field skills. The biggest skill in bird or wildlife shooting isn't behind the camera; its in the field with the animals. If you don't have that you won't be in the right place at the right time to get the shot. As Buck as shown - if you've the right skills and setup you can get good shots with even a short lens.
3) You'll always want 100mm more than whatever you have at the time -
Also a point on baiting - remember if you are going to bait to attract wildlife you've a few options:
1) The one off - a one off food sources to lure in a subject to a more controled location. Might be a few seeds or a dead chicken/mouse etc... - in short this is a one off food source. You might not get a hit with a one off however since its far less time in the field to be noticed. This generally won't have much if any effect on the animal(s) you're shooting.
2) The Short-term - a few days or a week or two; this is a short term source of food in a single location. It's got more chance to lure something in since its out there for longer, though might require regular top-ups during that short term period. This shouldn't have much effect on your subjects, since whilst its regular, its only a short period so its not replacing regular parts of their diet.
3) The long term (think bird feeders in the garden as an example) - here you're providing a long term suppliment to local food in a single location. This is a bit more risky since its not the kind of baiting you can just stop once you've got the shot; you've got to consider the time of year and the pressures on your subjects. If its a bountiful part of the year for your subject then cutting this source shouldn't be too much trouble for them to adapt to - if its mid winter however you might well have encouraged some to rely more heavily on that bait so you've a responsibility to keep that food topped up until times are more bountiful.
Against that you've also got to be careful not to over-bait. Provide too much food and you might boost local populations beyond what can naturally be supported for those species. Cutting that food not only now presents problems, but maintaining it also has problems (especailly so if you're working with predator species). Hopefully you'll never end up in this situation - but do some research before you bait.
, and then they just ignored the flash going off. I've actually even shot some with two speedlights, set up to act as a main and fill.
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