Cause for celebration

This past weekend we had a group of university students from Prince George come and stay and help with the final outside clearance before winter comes. One guy knew how to use a chainsaw so we gave him the spare and together we all cleared the dead longs and branches out of the horse field. We then collected all of the waxed cardboard, that can't be recycled, and burnt the lot in three big fires, which I think more than makes up for the fact that I missed bonfire night.

Also while the uni group were here, we got the surprise of our lives as, while up on the hill, a large male moose, with shovel antlers, approached the feeding station. I was told earlier on in the year that as it gets closer to winter the older moose will start showing up, and that we will feed them as food can become scarce as the leaves fall and it turns colder. So far two females have shown up. Mona who was raised here in 2007 and Nikki from 2008. I was down in the kitchen when the male showed up and Angelika came driving down on the quad, shouting to get a bucket of food ready and from there it was all a blur, I grabbed a bucket of food, jumped on the quad and we shot up the hill hoping he was still there. The moose was huge! I learnt later on that it was another shelter moose, Bully, who was raised here in 2011. Apparently when he first arrived he had to be put on an IV drip so seeing him so big and healthy was definitely cause for celebration. It was also incredible news to find out that he had survived another hunting season, as sad as it is, male moose with shovels are 'prime' hunting targets.

Finally, we have another bear bringing the total up to eight. She only weighed  29lbs when she arrived, compared to Bennie, the first bear we got back in September, who weighed over 60lbs when he got here. Angelika said that as we get further along in the year the bears generally get smaller due to the limited food sources in the winter and bears that come in after the hibernation period tend to be extremely tiny! She is currently being kept in the hospital as she is so small, but despite her size she is very feisty. A few days ago I went into the hospital to clean and as I walked past her pen, she bluff charged me. Usually this is meant to be scary and intimidating, however being the tiny furball she is it was more adorable than anything, and the confused look she gave me when I just laughed instead of recoiling in fear was priceless.