Close Encounters of the Furred Kind...


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October 22nd 2013
Published: October 23rd 2013
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Mr Furry Features!Mr Furry Features!Mr Furry Features!

Always on the prowl! This male sniffed our front and back steps then wandered across the street and had a poop outside our neighbour's house...
A big hello to all of our blog followers...

A blog by Dave...

We haven't blogged for a wee while, partly because we've not traveled a great deal during the year other than work related trips, and partly because we've had almost endless sunshine all year and have spent most of our time outside... However, we are now losing daylight very quickly and the temperatures are falling by the day so we're starting to get into hibernation mode - ideal for writing a blog or two.

There has been a few 'incidents' this year involving our furry-faced friends... There was one fellow who got charged a couple of times by a young bear on the Town Beach and another chap who got bitten and scratched by a different young bear! Both men were O.K., but understandably, they were a little shaken! There was a local lady who got chased by a bear down a back lane last week and another bear that broke into shed to grab a feast of moose meat that was being stored there! We also had a bear at our house! Twice! One morning at about 06:30 hrs a bear was scratching around our
Wandering the streets after dark!Wandering the streets after dark!Wandering the streets after dark!

This was at 05:20 hrs. I heard a thump as he banged against the side of the house...
front deck for a bit before wandering across to our neighbours yard, then three days later (also in the morning) another bear banged up against the living room wall and sniffed around the front deck before moving to the back of the house... It was all very exciting! We've lived in this house for three years and these are only times we've actually seen bears right from the house - pretty cool eh!

We've been hearing cracker shells most mornings as the conservation team move bears out of town - some bears like to snoop around at night. They're sneaky and can more-often-than-not find their way into town undetected... We really have to be vigilant as we wander the streets at night these days...

Bear Season is officially upon us!

The town is abuzz with tourists! Seriously! There are thousands of them!

Bear season always seems to attract a fair amount of interesting, yet wacky characters! Eccentrics, activists, evangelists and transvestites to name a few. There's always interesting conversations and arguments to be had! We also get the Hollywood Stars!...

Before the tourists, actors and crazies came in hordes (and before the sun fell from
Nudging the KayakNudging the KayakNudging the Kayak

They were getting a wee bit amorous!?
the sky) there were thousands of beluga whales in the estuary. The belugas were incredible this year! We had some amazing experiences with them as they frolicked around our kayak. The more time we spent with them the more curious they seemed to get? We had them nudging our kayak and spraying us with their blow holes! We had massive pods all around us at times - it was quite the thrill! But now, with the exception of a half-dozen stragglers, the whales have all gone. As the season changes the whales head to their wintering areas near the ice edge of the arctic ice-cap. We'll be seeing them next year again when they move back to the estuary.

For the first time in my life I tried some maktaaq! Maktaaq is a traditional food of the Inuit and is usually made from the skin and blubber of bowhead whales, but beluga and narwal is also used. It is usually eaten raw! I tried it raw and it was like chewing on a cat-food flavoured piece of bicycle inner-tube - not particularly pleasant! However, when it was cooked it was actually not bad...

The next morning Theresa could
Blow holeBlow holeBlow hole

Frolicking belugas in the estuary.
see this horrid thing staring at her from the fridge! A horrid piece of flesh! Needless to say, she did not try it!


I spent a good chunk of September working in Wapusk National Park and exploring some of the gems in various locations. When I wasn't flying around in noisy, smelly helicopters or hiking out to even more remote corners of the Park, I was helping on some small mammal projects (lemming and vole population studies) with a colleague. We even managed to catch a few! Wapusk National Park is an enormous wilderness park covering a massive 11,475 kmĀ² and it is an awesome place to explore. Everyday, when we weren't checking the traps, we hiked, explored and made discoveries and there was a lot of wildlife accompanying us! The colours on the tundra were striking and mesmerizing, it was like looking at a fairy tale land in miniature! Wapusk really is an amazing place - vast, empty and silent.

At the same time, Theresa travelled thousands of miles to get to North East Ontario's James Bay Region, also work related...

All of the pictures for this blog were taken in September... It's such a wonderful
Lingonberries.Lingonberries.Lingonberries.

Vaccinium vitus-idaea
month! A month of change...

Now it's October and there's a little bit of snow and ice on the ground - we are sure our furry, white, four-legged companions will like that! But it's been awfully quiet these last few days! We are wondering where they are?


Additional photos below
Photos: 20, Displayed: 20


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Nestor 1.Nestor 1.
Nestor 1.

Research camp in Wapusk Nat. Pk.
A fairy tale of colourA fairy tale of colour
A fairy tale of colour

Fall colours in the Park
Smiley FaceSmiley Face
Smiley Face

The flowers are apparently happy about the coming winter! Yellow mountain saxifrage (Saxifraga aizoides)
A Lemming TrapA Lemming Trap
A Lemming Trap

We set traps near Nestor One and near Broad River compound.
Gotcha!Gotcha!
Gotcha!

A Lemming is quite at home in this trap.
The Tidal FlatsThe Tidal Flats
The Tidal Flats

The vast tidal flats of Wapusk's east coast.
Wapusk East CoastWapusk East Coast
Wapusk East Coast

From the chopper.
Wild WapuskWild Wapusk
Wild Wapusk

On the shore of the Broad River.
Caribou (and a Polar Bear)Caribou (and a Polar Bear)
Caribou (and a Polar Bear)

On a nice 6 hour hike near Broad River.
September SkySeptember Sky
September Sky

The dancing sky in September.


23rd October 2013

Dave, You have to try it deep fried, it\'s fantastic! Take a small peice, about 3 x 3 inch, score it deeply and cook like french fries. BE WARNED. You might like it so much that you may over indulge, you will look like a cooked lobster as the rich blubber is high in vitamin D Great shots! Love it love it!
23rd October 2013

Wonderful to see you blogging again!
Your summer sounds delightful. I'd forgotten that you get belugas in the bay. What an amazing experience.We are wishing you a season of bears. The two nosing around your house look comfortable with town life. Hide the moose! The September sky is lovely. Longing to see both the bears and dancing sky. You live in a very special place. Stay safe and keep those blogs coming.
23rd October 2013

More amazing stories and pics!
Another great blog entry. One question Dave, you said maktaak tastes like 'catfood....'. How do you know what cat food tastes like? :-) Thanks for posting!!!
24th October 2013

Because it smells like cat food!
Believe it or not I have actually tried cat food! Both the dry stuff and the wet stuff - neither are appetizing. Thanks for your comments!
23rd October 2013

beautiful place
Hi, I think you two are in a really beautiful Canadian town, to see all of that and enjoying it. Will go and see Churchill one day. Just take care LOVE YOU BOTH<< MOM AURORA
24th October 2013

As always , we thoroughly enjoyed your blog. Life up there must be full of surprises.
25th October 2013

I didn't know Ermines were so cute. Love the pictures of belugas(miss them) and aurora borealis. Thanks for the names of the flora- lingonberry juice is good. I don't know about those polars, hopefully they never learn how to turn doorknobs.
29th October 2013

furry friends
Bit early for halloweeners at the door!! good blog. About time.
2nd November 2013

Long Time
While I do not know either of you personally, I have greatly missed your posts of your adventures. Wondered what had happened to ya'll, (I'm from the South, Virginia specifically). Definitely look forward to your postings, Good to see ya'll back.
5th November 2013

Thanks Donnie
Thanks for your comment and thanks for reading the blog. Stay tuned for our next adventure - it'll be a little different...
21st December 2013

wow!
so glad i finally got around to reading this and the recent blog...you all are amazing! we miss you in guate...come back. The book is nearly finished ..we're about to start the search for publishers. Title is "Doing Good? Says Who"
28th December 2013

Book title
Hiya Fran! How nice to hear from you! Love the title of your book, how exciting that it is close to being finished! Miss you! xo T and D

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