Category Archives: mammals

April goulash

  This is a month’s end collection of images, none of which has had a posting of its own. A Bald Eagle brings sticks to enlarge its nest. A Columbian Ground Squirrel does sentry duty beside its burrow. My hare … Continue reading

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Two portraits

  While the naturalist in me likes to explore interesting behaviours — Ogopogo, planing, katabatic winds — the photographer in me just likes to take portraits — eagle, otter family, black grizzly. Here are two portraits from two days ago. Surely … Continue reading

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Budding buck

  A deer’s antlers are regrown each year. They start in the spring as buds and grow quickly to full size in about four months. This morning’s white-tailed buck shows only a few day’s growth. Indeed, the growth is about the same … Continue reading

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Friends in residence

  I generally try to sample delights throughout the neighbourhood of Kootenay Lake — a rather substantial area. However, the neighbourhood sampled for today’s posting is rather constrained: things seen in or from my yard over the last few days. Of course, … Continue reading

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Hare’s hair

  Seasonal bunny: This hare showed insensitivity to mythology by neither laying nor hiding eggs. A hare’s hair moults. Our local snowshoe hare (we don’t have rabbits around here) is white in winter and rusty brown in summer. The transition … Continue reading

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Otter in suspension

  A travelling animal can employ various gaits, a word that describes the pattern of movement of limbs during locomotion. A bipedal human might walk, hop, or run, each a different form of propulsion. The transition from one gait to another takes place when the … Continue reading

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Otter twist

  When climbing out of the Lake, many animals disperse water by twisting and shaking. Dogs do it, eagles do it, and otters do it.  While I had seen otters spin their heads to shake off water, I had not … Continue reading

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Cryptic muskrat

  Sometimes camouflage allows wildlife to pass almost unnoticed.

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March marmot again

  Over the preceding five years, the first marmot I noticed appeared progressively earlier in the season. Five years ago, it was late March, last year it had shifted to late February. Was this a trend? With the persistent snows of … Continue reading

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Tracks in snow

  After an overnight dusting of snow, I like to look for animal tracks in my yard to discover what creatures share my space. Sometimes no one comes; sometimes snow keeps falling and covers the evidence. Now and then I see … Continue reading

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