Category Archives: mammals

Marmot portraits

Posted on April 2, 2021 by Alistair

  I visited Marmot Village hoping to get pictures of residents doing something interesting. No such luck — the word, torpidity, came to mind. The yellow-bellied marmots would watch the watchers, but they barely budged. If you ignore the marmot’s … Continue reading →

Posted in mammals | 2 Comments

Deer, ducks, mud, & leaps

Posted on March 10, 2021 by Alistair

  Two white-tailed deer stopped by in the predawn light and entranced me with a display of leaping. First, one deer needed to greet the new day with some matutinal micturition.  They then began to leap. At first, I thought … Continue reading →

Posted in mammals | 4 Comments

Antler rhythm

Posted on February 2, 2021 by Alistair

  Antlers have a relentless rhythm. HORNS: Antlers are not horns. Antlers regrow annually; horns are permanent. Antlers grow at the tips; horns grow at the base. Antlers branch; horns do not. Over the period of a year, antlers bud, … Continue reading →

Posted in mammals | 10 Comments

January’s goulash

Posted on January 31, 2021 by Alistair

  Each of these January images lacked a posting of its own and so is assembled here. Hooded Mergansers show their interest in each other, even at this time of year, by raising their crests and displaying. These two pictures … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, mammals, weather | 10 Comments

Spike elk

Posted on January 1, 2021 by Alistair

  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

Posted on December 15, 2020 by Alistair

  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

Posted on December 7, 2020 by Alistair

  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

Coyote poop

Posted on December 1, 2020 by Alistair

  Recently, a friend sent me some pictures from the Comedy Wildlife Photographic Awards from 2017.  Interesting. OK, when I take shots of wildlife, my objective is to understand their world — not to poke fun at it. Yet, have … Continue reading →

Posted in mammals | 2 Comments

Disparate defences

Posted on October 18, 2020 by Alistair

  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

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Alistair

  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