Valentines Day In the Wild

I don't believe that the human race has the exclusive rights to the euphoric feelings of love. I have seen many examples of true love, suggestive love, companionship and the true devotion that a mother has for her young in the wild too.

Here are two shots of a pair of grizzly bear mates. I think that this is very recognizable body language, even between species about what is going on here. Pretty Boy is enamoured by Lenore, he is in love. He is trying to explain how much he loves her by whispering in her ear, that loving gaze and his gentle nip and tug. Lenore is playing coy, she needs a bit more convincing and sweet talk. She is not about to be swept off her feet by just any good looking rogue.

All of us have seen the love and devotion that our pets or farm animals show for their babies. I have seen it often in the wilderness using bears, birds and many other animals as examples. Mothers will give their lives to protect their babies. This young cub was sleeping in the grass nearby while his mom was grazing nearby. When Mom was finally full, she found a nice comfortable rock to spread out over for her siesta. It only took less than a minute before the cub got up and sleepily, flopped down over Mom's foot. The reassuring comfort of that big pillow quickly lulled the cub back to sleep.


I see very strong love and devotion for the family life in birds too. Many birds such as eagles mate for life. Here we see how dependant the baby tree swallows are for their parents. They would not survive long without the hard work of Mom and Dad working from can see to can't see catching insects to feed their hungry little charges. It must seem a daunting chore to keep these bottomless maws filled.

When we get to see the giants of the deep, Orca whales, they are often travelling in tight family groups called pods. They are most often composed of a few females, calves and a large male. The male is not the leader of the pod, they are matriarchal, led by a female. It is definitely a sight to see when they are demonstrating their power, exuberance for life and maybe even showing off for a potential mate.

Love and companionship requires hard work and commitment for wildlife as well as for humans. The wild animals provide all of us great examples of what it takes to thrive in the wilderness, for the benefit and survival of each of their species.

http://www.seasonsofthegrizzly.com/

Snowy Owl Irruption

It had been a dark and foggy, early morning ferry ride to Tsawwassen where we hoped to find and photograph a snowy owl. From the ferry terminal, it was a short drive to where numerous other vehicles had parked and a short walk before we spotted our first owl, sitting on a driftwood log. It was respectfully surrounded by scores of people who used this dry day to wander down for a rare sighting of our traditionally, northern residents. The news casts have been talking about this irruptive event that happens about every 5 or 6 years. The Snowy Owls, generally younger ones, migrate southwards because their traditional northern food source, the lemmings, have died off. The birds fly south as far as the central USA looking for small mammals or ducks which they hunt, both day and at night time. How do the young birds find their way when they have never made this journey before? Why do they choose certain spots over others? In our case, why do they choose just this section of Boundary Bay instead of half a mile away? I guess we saw at least 15 different owls off the end of 72 street. There were probably more hidden amongst the driftwood, concealed by the fog.

The Boundary Bay Regional Park is located on the Pacific coastal flyway migration route for millions of birds. It is a very productive mix of shoreline, tidal marshes, inter-tidal mud flats, upland and woodland areas where hungry migratory birds can stop over to refuel and rest before continuing their migrations, both northward and south. For bird watchers and nature lovers, it is a wilderness oasis of of peace, nestled on the edge of a human population of over 2 million people. Here is a quiet place where you can walk, run, bike, wheel chair or push baby strollers along well groomed dykes, watching natures miracles while getting your own nature fix and exercise. Keep your dogs on a leash please.

I would say there were several hundred people wandering along the dyke looking at the owls, harriers and eagles. There were many thousands of dollars worth of camera gear deployed in the hopes of getting a great shot of this rare visitor. I did not wander out to the mud flats but could see it crawling with thousands of shore birds.

Today, it was all about the owls. The snowy owl is a large, white bird, standing about 24 inches tall, with sleepy, yellow eyes. They have a variable amount of dark spots and barring, depending upon sex and age. Young owls are heavily barred and adult females are more barred than the almost pure white color of the adult male. They eat mainly small rodents, hares, birds and carrion. They will lay 3 or 4, up to 10 eggs in a shallow, moss, feather lined depression on the tundra. They take about 35 days to hatch and another 3 to 4 weeks to fledge.

I enjoyed the day, in the company of the snowy owl. There is a quiet, regal look about the snowy owl, a look of wisdom, confidence and strength, beyond their young years. Safe journey home.

www.seasonsofthegrizzly.com

Wild Horse Visit

A couple weeks ago my son and I took a day trip west of Sundre, Alberta to see if we could find some of Alberta's wild horses. There is plenty of hot discussion about these free ranging horses from environmentalists, ranchers, governments, hunters, trappers, logging and oil industries and people like ourselves, who love the idea of wild horses in the wilderness. There are people who want to exploit them by trapping or rounding them up to be sold to abattoirs who will butcher them for world wide people and pet meat markets. Other people want to be able to round them up and break them to ride, pack or pull a wagon. Some people are shooting and leaving them to rot for some perverse pleasure.

Do horses belong in the foothills and forests of Alberta or any place else they live? Are they truly wild or are they just released from some ranch or farm who can no longer care for them properly?

Are they feral animals, horses gone wild after wandering away from abandoned farms, pack outfits, ranches, or lost Indian ponies who wandered off to scrounge a living were they could? Some people suggest they have genes from the original Spanish Conquistadors horses. There were horses in North America before the last ice age, so perhaps these are descendants from then.

Irregardless of where they come from or the discussions about how to manage them, they are beautiful animals who seem to fit into their chosen ranges. As Michael and I drove along the Forestry Trunk Road, we spotted at least 15 animals in 3 different herds. Some were farther off and unapproachable. One herd was grazing on the hillside on the other side of a river. Another group was foraging through the lodge pole pine forest above the road. All were very alert and noticed us as soon as we stopped to look them over. We spotted a herd of 4 about half a mile down a shallow hill in an old logged out burn. I decided we should try to approach them to get some photos and to see for ourselves what they looked like up close. We made our way downhill using natural draws and bushes to hide in on our stalk. The snow was crunchy and the wind waffled around,as if unsure of where it was coming from or going to. We managed to get within about 100 yards before the naturally alert ponies noticed us. 2 of 4 heads popped out of the grass to see what we were all about. Pretty soon all 4 horses watched as we continued our nonchalant approach. I had already got a few pictures figuring to at least get a record of what we were seeing before they bolted for the tall timber, but they kept grazing quietly as we got nearer. We got to within about 20 yards or so, closer than I have gotten to "tame" horses, before horsey body lingo told us we were there. For the next half hour or so, we were in the beautiful western Albertan equine living room. As these horses grazed, we maneuvered to get the best angle of the sun and background for photos. I see the same inter species awareness as they grazed and monitored our actions, as I do when I watch bears or birds. I try not to interrupt their business or stress them out as we enjoy their company.

The horses were in beautiful condition, I thought. A few scars, war wounds from battles of old, marred otherwise pristine coats. Long guard hairs covered full, finer undercoats, their ribs were well covered by a layer of fat and well conditioned muscles rippled as they grazed. One stallion has a giant "skin tag" on his left hind quarter. Their feet were in good shape, judging by their tracks in the snow. Best of all was their alertness and their curiosity about the two humans who quietly moved along with them as they gathered their noon time meal.

We saw only deer tracks interspersed with the few horse tracks as we wandered around this burned over landscape. There was plenty of grass with quite a bit of browse for the critters to eat. Rabbit tracks were also numerous and there were grouse trails on top of the snow. It seemed to me that there was plenty of food for the horses and any other animals who may want to live here, The horse herds that we saw were well dispersed so as not to over graze the land.

This was a good day, memorable for me for the company I was with. Time spent alone with your son sharing a wilderness experience in the company of wild animals is always memorable. We don't get to do it often enough.

Oyster River Enhancement Society, Old Men of the Hatchery

We are just regular, mainly retired, men and women who want to give something back to the world that we may have used during our working years. Some of us were loggers, fishermen, salespeople, mill workers or military people. Some enjoyed hunting and fishing as pastimes who took our fair share and maybe even more, never worrying that we ought to leave some for our grand kids. Now we understand the damage we may have caused and work towards righting some of the environmental woes we were part of. I am one of these people; semi retired, exlogger who did more than my share of damage to Mother Earth. I am now trying to raise awareness of the damages we humans continue to do to the world and attempt to demonstrate by doing, how we all might be able to assure that our grand kids have a salmon to catch some day. The Oyster River Enhancement Society has a membership of over 300 and an active volunteer group of over 50 members who show up every Tuesday to do what needs to be done. We have been led by Frank and Jitka Petrezuelka for about 18 years. They are now leaving to live a quieter lifestyle, get some rest and enjoy some new freedom. This has been a full time job for these "retired" managers. They will be tough people to replace when we think of what they have accomplished these past many years. With the help of many volunteers Frank has overseen tremendous growth of natural spawning channels that the fish use naturally. Working with limited budgets and grants from Pacific Salmon Foundation as well as donations from local businesses and private individuals, priority infrastructure has been added where needed. Much of the success of the hatchery has been due to Frank's easy management style. Most years the hatchery has released more than 2 million salmon fry to the river. This is not counting many times more than that that have spawned naturally in the river and side channels. It is more difficult to manage volunteers than a paid work force. Employees can be told what to do where volunteers have to be coaxed. Jitka never forgets a birthday and always has a smile and a hug of support for all. She has been Frank's right hand man for years and is dedicated to the fish and volunteers. She has filed many of the grant applications for specific projects.
I know it will not be easy to replace Frank and Jitka. I looked at the wood carving of the "Old Man of the Sea" and think we ought to have one for the fish. If we could design a memorial, I believe it could be a carving of Frank and Jitka and be titled "The Keepers of the Salmon".
I look forward to the next few years volunteering at ORES and know that there are still many other members who have been devoted to the Oyster River Salmon for a long time that will help our new manager as he comes up to speed. Lyle has big boots to fill and there will always be the ghost of Frank looking over his shoulder.
Thanks for all you have accomplished, Frank and Jitka. The Oyster River is alive and well because of your able direction. We hope you come for a visit once in a while. We are going to miss you.

Bob Scriba
Dec.13/2011

http://www.seasonsofthegrizzly.com/

Freedom to Float

I was walking the beech yesterday enjoying the sunrise and the calm strait. Out on the water sat several different species of birds, mainly ducks. Today the Cormorants seemed most numerous so I sat and watched them for a while. The largest ones we have living

on the west coast is the "Double Crested Cormorant" and the smallest is the "Pelagic Cormorant." Most often we see them sitting on the rocks digesting their meals or drying their feathers. They don't have any oil in their feathers which reduces their water buoyancy, allowing them to dive down as low as 160 feet to catch their small fishy meal. I have seen them sitting out there trying to dry feathers in a rainstorm too.

Often, I enjoy watching Cormorants and Gulls riding the tidal currents on a piece of driftwood. What freedom that is and it reminds me of the days we used to have floating down the Smokey or Wapiti Rivers in our canoe or raft. Just sit on your raft and let the winds or the current carry you someplace. Where, who cares? We used to worry about getting back to the confines of jobs and homes, preferably on time. Now days we all have to be equipped with GPS, Spot, and cell phones, just in case somebody wants to get a hold of us. The old freedom is rare these days. I wondered if Mother Cormorant was concerned about her young ones, floating off on the ebb tide? Were they worried about getting back to the big rock to dry out? Could they fish for their supper wherever that driftwood took them? Would they just ride their raft back on the flood tide?

I think more of us should just get on our "raft" and go wherever the winds, tides or trails take us. Lets not be too concerned about if we get back today or by dark or even by tomorrow. Is the world going to stop spinning because we aren't exactly where we are "supposed" to be? There would be a lot less stress, at least on ourselves.

www.seasonsofthegrizzly.com

The rules

Occupy Agreement

I have been wondering about all these Occupy Activists lately, thinking that they are a bunch of dope smoking, crack eating pot heads, which some of them probably are, but there are some with very real concerns.

I went down to the post office today to mail a book off, 1 book. I have always sent these same books in a package, supplied by the post office, for $11.00. These packages were designed to fill up and mail, no matter what the weight. Today they wouldn't let me mail even 1 book in that package, I had to buy the next bigger one, for an extra $3.00. This larger package is what I used to send 6 books in for $14.00. Maybe I am one of the people who took advantage of the post office's former generosity, but it was their own policy. Price of shipping is going to go up folks, so my book sales will no doubt suffer.

Another big corporation example of public gouging is the price of gasoline at the pumps. $1.29/l at the pumps here in Campbell River. Now the price of oil has been down several dollars below the summer high, but the price per litre keeps climbing! What is going on? What is their new excuse? What a bunch of shysters we have to contend with and we have no choice but to pay, pay, pay! I hope there is a big raise coming soon!

It won't be long and I will have no choice but to join the pot heads in their tents on the grounds of the Legislature grounds. At least the government will pay for my room and board if I refuse to move.