Things I have learnt

It is my last night at the shelter. I have been packing all afternoon and am taking a well deserved break (read - I am nowhere near done but got distracted looking at pictures). So I thought I would share some more pictures highlighting some of the things I have learnt on this trip.

1) A grizzly bear with a milk mustache is one of the funniest/ cutest things I have ever witnessed

2) This is not the right way to hold a goose at all, but it does lead to some pretty cute pictures.

3) Apparently mares do not like it when you chase their day old foal around a field then hold it and refuse let go. (This is called imprinting and is very important to do in the weeks after a foal is born. It makes them much easier to handle and catch when they are older. I wasn't just chasing a foal for fun. I promise.)

4) From an early age, a few select deer have the urge to just take off and fly.

5) Sometimes baby bears mistake cameras for food.

6) And finally baby bears also like to pull silly faces in front of the camera. Just like some people do.

Silver King Basin

This last Wednesday the other volunteer and I got another day off together, so along with the two teenagers who are here helping out with the horses, we decided to go out on another hike after the great day we had last time. This time we wanted to be more adventurous so hiked up to what is called Silver King Basin. The trail takes you to a beautiful wild meadow and a large flowing river that is inside a basin 1300 feet up into the mountains. IT WAS STUNNING. Honestly it might just have been one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited.

In the meadow was a log cabin where hikers are able to stay and rest, had I more than one day off and more time to explore I definitely would have stayed there for a few days.

My dream home

 It was a relatively easy walk, around 20km and I had such a great time. We were all laughing and joking the whole day and it was nice to just get away from the farm for a day, as often on my days off I am stuck on site as I can't drive. It's pretty easy to get slight cabin fever when you can't leave.

Exploring around the basin we found the last remnants of the old mines. A couple of mining carts and a portion of the tracks have been left for hikers to explore and we had a lot of fun climbing in them and taking pictures. It's pretty cool to think that this cart is over 100 years old.

I'm such a dork

Things at the shelter have quietened down a lot after the baby season. Our little deer, Brock (yes named after the Pokemon Character. When we picked him up he had a double sided eye infection, meaning he couldn't open his eyes at all, hence the name) is doing extremely well. He knows his name, and comes running to get his milk. He is very excitable and also completely adorable.

SUPER CUTE!!!

All the bears are doing great. Fisher, the bear that suddenly became gravely ill last month, has finished his meds and despite being given only a 5% survival chance by vets, pulled through and has been reunited with the other bears.

Eight of our ducks are ready to be released this weekend, along with our four foxes. Also Ninja, our Canada goose, has another friend. We got another Canada goose that we named Turtle. Get it. Ninja Turtle. We are hilarious! Ninja has been living in the same enclosure as the ducks since they arrived, so we have the running joke now that we have Turtle, who is a goose, living with another goose that thinks it's a duck. Not confusing AT ALL.

The two beavers, now named Willow and Aspen (much more suitable for the public than what we nicknamed them. Fussbutt and Chubs) are growing like crazy and we are still looking into options on where to send them. BC doesn't allow the release of beavers as, despite being the national animal, they are considered a nuisance. So eventually a home in a wildlife park or a zoo needs to be found.

L: Aspen (Chubs) R: Willow (Fussbutt)

Seeing as I am on  photo uploading spree, here is a picture of me in a den with Littlefoot, our yearling Grizzly bear. We tranquilised him so I was able to take paw prints. I never expected to get so close to a grizzly bear!

Phew, that was a long update. I'm in my last week at the shelter now, so my next update will most likely come from Vancouver, where I am staying for four days before I fly home. I think i'm also going to be avoiding the news for the next week as i'm getting slightly nervous to be going on a bunch of planes with all these disappearances and crashes that are happening right now. It's kind of unsettling to say the least.

Until next time!

The Road Not Taken

On Tuesday (July 8th) The other volunteer and myself got a day off together and we decided to go hiking and check out the nearby Twin Falls. It was stunningly beautiful and warm day, however the trail ended up being way too short for our liking, and it wasn't long before we reached the viewpoint for the waterfall. We had two choices, either turn back and take the second, longer trail, or continue on and make our own trail. I was instantly reminded of the famous Robert Frost poem 'The Road Not Taken' and with that in mind we chose to forge our own path and get a closer look at the falls.

We started off by climbing up onto the rocks that ran alongside the viewpoint. It was a pretty steep cliff face, but we managed to find enough indents and grooves to place our hands and feet to successfully make it up. Once over the cliff, we followed a rock path right down to the river, where there was still ice and snow from the winter. We then crossed the river using an Ice bridge that was still standing and that took us pretty close to the waterfall. From there we made our way down some more rocks, right to the bottom of the waterfall, before it got too cold to go any further. By this point we were soaked to the bone from the spray and as all the water is glacial run off water, it was pretty darn cold!

It was a wet, cold and very rough walk/climb, but ultimately worth it. Taking the road less traveled really paid off for us and it had been a long time since I had that much adrenaline running through me. Both of us said, while walking back that we were shaking not just because of the cold, and that our legs felt like they had turned to jelly. Unsurprisingly the way down took a bit longer.

After our hike, we grabbed some very well deserved ice-cream and went shopping, then once it had cooled down a bit, we headed out to the other side of the valley to hike some more on Hudson Bay Mountain. Still feeling a bit tired from this morning, we opted for the easy trail, adorably named 'Fuzzy Monkey'. It's actually a mountain biking trail, but walking it was fun too. We found a lot of fur in the branches that we instantly recognised as bear fur. After working with bears for almost a year, it's very easy to tell simply from the smell.

I am still working on getting the pictures up for this post and the previous, soon, I promise!

Gwaii Haanas

What an incredible, whirlwind few weeks I have had. I'm sorry for not posting anything sooner but I have been working 15 hour days for the past couple of weeks so once i'm back in my room, all I an think of doing if collapsing on my bed, certainly not writing a blog.

Our animal intake has increased, we now have 6 black bear cubs, 1 fawn, 11 ducks, 2 geese, 4 foxes, 1 grizzly bear cub and 2 beavers. Between all of that plus all the cleaning and maintenance I have been kept very busy.

The 2 beavers (named Willow and Aspen) are completely adorable. Due to B.C laws they can't be released back into the wild, so while we try to find a suitable zoo or sanctuary we get to tame them. Which really doesn't take much they are pretty friendly as it is, but it does mean that whenever I get some free time I can go and cuddle and play with them.

One of the highlights of the past week was that I got to release the final black bear of last year (Zippy) on Haida Gwaii. Haida Gwaii is an archipelago of islands off the north coast of B.C. It is informally known as The Queen Charlotte islands and has been described as 'The Galapagos of the North' due to the beautiful scenery, and the number of endemic species found on the islands. Zippy herself is a subspecies of black bear found only on these islands that are much larger than the mainland bears.

Haida Gwaii is mostly inhabited by the native Haida people. As I was driving around the islands it became very apparent that the islands are rich in culture. Native totem poles adorned the towns and local art can be found on everything from clothing to shower curtains to gas station signs. There is even a Haida language, Gwaii Haanas is the Haida name for Moresby island, the southern island which was our destination for Zippy's release. This may have been one of the more difficult release sites this year. A 4 hour drive followed by a 7 hour ferry, then another 30 minute ferry, then another 90 minute drive and we finally reached our destination on a mountainside, surrounded by coastal rainforest.

The ferry to the islands doesn't run on Sundays and as the only boat we could get out was Saturday morning we stayed on the island all weekend. Originally we had planned to sight see for most of Sunday however one of the guys who came on the release with us gave us an offer we couldn't really refuse. It turns out he flies a tiny 6 person float plane every week along with a government representative to do a fishing boat survey. It just so happened that this weeks flight fell on the Sunday we were there and he invited us to come along for the ride! I thought the 50 seat plane to Smithers was small but this plane looked like a toy. I almost didn't believe it would even fly, but soon enough we were flying all around the coast of the islands and up into the mountains. It was breathtaking! It looked like something from a fantasy movie and I even got to see some wild island bears from the window.

I arrived back at just after midnight Tuesday morning and got just a few hours sleep before I had to be up nice and early to prepare for the shelter's annual open house. Normally the shelter is closed to visitors, but one day each year (Canada Day) we open the doors and allow people to take a look around and see the animals. This year was the biggest yet, 1200 people showed up and we raised over $6000. I spent 8 hours with Brock the baby deer, answering questions and showing him off to everyone. It was a lot of fun and i'm glad that we had such a fantastic event.

I'm sorry that there are no photos in this post. I have lots I want to share but my internet connection seems to have taken a nosedive. I suspect it may have something to do with all the thunderstorms we've been having recently. If I manage to upload them at some point i'll make a comment in my next post saying so.