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.
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