Category Archives: mammals

  I am used to seeing coyotes, if I see them at all, as solitary predators. Occasionally, I have seen two hunting together. However, this weekend was the first time I had seen them in a pack. It was probably … Continue reading →

  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 →

  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 →

  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 →

  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 →

  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 →

  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 →

  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 →