Northern Saskatchewan 2012 - Other Wildlife



A tree stump where all that remains of a snowshoe hare is white fur of the past winter.  Probably killed and eaten by a great horned owl.  In the fall months I often hear its deep hooting call in the late hours of darkness.


The Red Squirrel is a common companion, often scurrying through the campsite.  I love to watch them eating the seeds of a spruce or pine cone which they hold in their "hands", rotating and moving it back and forth like we would eat corn-on-the-cob, but a lot faster.  Perhaps especially because I am on my own, I do talk to animals.  If you use a calm and conversational voice they often pause for a few seconds giving you an inquisitive head turning "What are you saying?" response.  I do warn them to not trust "all" humans as they might me.


I have often fed a few bannock crumbs to a visiting small bird such as a Canada jay or junco.  This year a mouse started coming to one campsite and picking up the crumbs.  It was enjoyable to me for a while until realizing when there is one mouse there is a whole family.  One or more would march right up to my food dish and bang it from the underside with her nose, becoming a pest.  I vowed never again to purposely feed any animal no matter how small and cute.







I was limbing some dead dry wood for stovewood one early morning in early October when I heard the grunting of a bull moose in rut.  It may have been coincidence, but the sound of breaking brush sometimes does attract a bull moose in rut if he thinks it is a competing male.  He was on the opposite side of the lake.  I walked to the edge of the lake in the direction of the sounds and saw him about 1km away near shore slowly walking my way on his side of the lake, grunting quite continuously.  I thought if he keeps going I can intercept him at the end of the lake, and the wind is favourable (blowing towards me).  I quickly walked back to my tent, got the camera and then towards the end of the lake.  I was not fast enough to get as close as I wished, but I did get to within about 100 metres, the last shot being of him quite in the open.  I moved closer and he finally questioned "What is that moving thing over there?", slowly turned, majestically walked away and was lost to sight in the bush in a few seconds.  Awesome sight!  I like to see if I can second-guess where a particular animal can be intercepted, though they outsmart me more than vice versa.