Category Archives: mammals

Bird walk

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Alistair

This unconscionably long posting presents the results of a full day of watching species around the Lake. Yesterday, the Kaslo and Area Birders held a bird walk at the north end of the Lake. They graciously allowed others to join … Continue reading →

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Stotting gait

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Alistair

Mule deer are the only local wildlife that stot. Quadrupeds display a variety of gaits: they have various manners of moving, such as, walking, trotting, galloping. To this list of gaits, a handful of animals around the world add stotting … Continue reading →

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Muskrat

Posted on April 9, 2011 by Alistair

The muskrat was the second wild mammal I encountered along this lakeshore when I was a small child: a muskrat often nested in a float from which we swam. (The first encounter was with the squirrel). The Kootenay Lake website offers … Continue reading →

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Otters on ice

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Alistair

Kootenay Lake (altitude 532 m) does not freeze over in the Winter. In the past, portions of the West Arm would sometimes freeze over, but that has not happened for a long time. The change had nothing to do with … Continue reading →

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Grab bag

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Alistair

Herein lies a grab bag of images from this last week: squirrel, robin, eagles, crow, widgeon, nuthatch, mallard, skunk cabbage.

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Coyote hunting

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Alistair

At noon on Sunday, I watched a coyote hunting in a large field of snow. I saw it pounce, dig in the snow, and come up with something in its mouth (right). It is likely that it caught a vole. … Continue reading →

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Single file

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Alistair

Life becomes difficult for Mule Deer when snow is deeper than than 30 centimetres. As deer must stay on the move both to find food and escape predators, deep snow is problematic. What these pictures from a few weeks ago show … Continue reading →

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Bear tracks

Posted on November 28, 2010 by Alistair

At the north end of the Lake, a friend put his bird feeder out again yesterday, thinking that the bears have now retreated for the winter. Yet, among the visitors to my snow–covered yard overnight was a bear (tracks below). So, … Continue reading →

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Bears keep coming

Posted on October 21, 2010 by Alistair

I continue to be disappointed with the quality of the pictures from my IR camera (by comparison to a visual light camera) since I first posted a shot of a black–bear cub and offered comments on September 28. But, it does … Continue reading →

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Up the Lardeau

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Alistair

The Lardeau River drains into Kootenay Lake (well, after a brief passage through the Duncan River). The gravel road along the river from Meadow Creek to Trout Lake is worth travelling on a clear day in the early fall. Certainly, … Continue reading →

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