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Category Archives: mammals
Spike elk
Visit any elk herd at this time of year and you will find it largely composed of females. Yet, now and then, among them there is a spike elk — a yearling male which has already grown single-prong antlers. … Continue reading
Posted in mammals
2 Comments
Otter romp
That we have river otters in Kootenay Lake is irrefutable. However, they are few in number and, alas, they rarely visit. It had been many months without seeing them when they stopped by in late November. That was that. … Continue reading
Posted in mammals
6 Comments
Hare splitting
Perhaps my favourite set of tracks to find in snow are those of the snowshoe hare. This might be because the tracks are distinctive and not nearly as common as, say, are a deer’s. Indeed, as the snowshoe-hare population … Continue reading
Posted in mammals
5 Comments
Disparate defences
I think that I am on safe ground to suggest that prey prefer not to be eaten. Yesterday I watched two prey animals which had adopted rather different methods of defending against predators. They were a mountain goat and … Continue reading
Posted in birds, mammals
7 Comments
Fishing grizzlies
Three smallish grizzly bears were fishing in a stream. I suspect that these bears were cubs freshly on their own as they had yet to develop the prominent shoulder hump of adult grizzlies. This grizzly appears to be looking … Continue reading
Posted in fish, mammals
4 Comments
Chipmunk
Today I photographed two different mammals, which was somewhat unusual as most days I don’t see any wild mammals. Below is the first seen, and the smaller of the two. The next posting will be of the more dramatic … Continue reading
Posted in mammals
2 Comments
Otters reappear
I was delighted to see a half-dozen featureless grey ghosts visit a dilapidated dock in the faint light well before dawn. They constituted a family of otters. In recent times, I had been wondering about local otters for I … Continue reading
Posted in mammals
2 Comments
Hare’s ears
Wildlife websites assure us that one of the many differences between rabbits and hares is that hares have much longer ears. Usually unmentioned is that this difference vanishes at our northern latitudes. The snowshoe hare is present across mainland … Continue reading
Posted in mammals
5 Comments
July goulash
This is a collection of images from this July that did not have postings of their own. The idiom, snake in the grass, implies treachery. In reality, our garter snake is harmless. This Cedar Waxwing seemed intent on expressing … Continue reading
Posted in birds, herptiles, mammals
2 Comments
Gibson errors
We drove to Gibson Lake. Gibson Lake is one of the many satellite alpine lakes that hang over Kootenay Lake. On the way there, I was asked two questions: Might we see Indian Paintbrush? Might we see a Hoary … Continue reading
Posted in mammals, wildflowers
5 Comments