The life cycle of a plastic bottle. The oil that is extracted from the ground is cleaned at the refinery and then at the plastic factory the oil is transformed into plastic pellets, followed by bottle pre-forms. The pre-forms are shaped into bottles and then filled with water, which end up in the stores. From there the water is purchased and consumed, most empty bottles ends up at the landfills, some are recycled and few are thrown out as litter. Still a lot of work needed to not use plastic when possible, recycle when used and not litter at all. This grizzly mother may only find water in the plastic bottle, but the plastic can still harm her mouth and the bad habit was quickly picked up by her cubs. All wildlife need from us is a space to call home.
Bighorn Sheep
This ewe and other Bighorn Sheep were moving along the valley, then one by one they started climbing, in few seconds this female was twenty meters above me looking down, the dust still settling. A good skill to have when trying to get away from predators.
Black Bear
Black Bear claws are adapted for them to easily climb trees, cubs right out of the den they are ready and capable. Unlike the long claws of the grizzly bears, the black bears have sharp, shorter and curved claws, perfect for climbing trees to get away from predators, a place to sleep, rest or to find food. Two black bears can get into a fight on a tree, the advantage would be for the bear below, the upper bear can't fight face to face and when bears do climb down, their bottom has to be facing the bottom. In the case of this picture, the cubs were sleeping on the tree while their mother was feeding below. She climbed up the tree and woke up her cubs, the sleepy heads one by one climbed down.
Black Bear
Lots of food out there for the bears to feed on, this male was travelling through the valley, stopping to eat. I'm sure this large male like the other large males has matting on his mind. During this time of the season they do lots of travelling, hoping to find mates. It's probably the only time of the year when they are not sleeping, when eating becomes secondary.
Grizzly
I have seen my share of wildlife, each time I come across wildlife it reminds me why I live in the mountains. Getting to live in an amazing place, where the more I explore the more I want to be out there. Seeing this beautiful grizzly helps me look forward to my next outing.
Elk
In the morning I came across half a dozen elk, among them a new born calf, staying close to its mother. On the other side of elk were friends who were returning from bird watching, all getting to see a 15 to 16 kg calf, covered with spots. The mother was still licking the calf, trying to remove all sent that would give away the calf’s location to the predators. The mother was locating a secure spot for the calf, until it was ready to be able to run away from danger. Around the calving season there are more bear sighting in the area, all looking for an opportunity to locate a defenceless calf. Other predators join in as well, just minutes before this picture was taken, a female coyote was in the area, sent running by the elk. Soon after the mother took the calf into think vegetation, where the calf could rest, be nursed and kept safe.
Bighorn Sheep
I came across this young ram bottom of the valley, licking minerals off the ground. With the warmer weather, they are losing their winter coat and gaining weight with green vegetation to eat. But even with al the food warm weather brings to this and other bighorn sheeps, they still need to find minerals to stay healthy.
Black Bear
Early on morning I saw an adult back bear eating, no sign of any other bears. A tree near the bear had something different on it, on closer inspection with my camera I saw something small and black. soon to my amazement the female adult went up to wake up her cubs, who were sleeping on the tree. One by one they came down.
Grizzly
The big griz got right down to the food, he was hungry. There was green grass and dandelions for him to eat. Have to put on all the weight he lost during the winter and add more to his frame. He would have lost easily over 100 pounds during his deep winter sleep, waking up very hungry. Now is time to eat and eat and looking for a female to mate with for the next number of weeks.
Mountain Goat
he goal for the evening was to hopefully watch mountain goats on the side of the mountains. There was one adult and it was slowly making its way toward a falls that only exists during the snow melt or when there's a major rainfall. Opportunity presented itself, to take a picture of the goat and the falls. I had to be somewhat quick, did not know how long the goat was going to be there for and how close it was going to get to the water. From the valley, I framed the picture I wanted and then waited for the goat to get into the position I hoped for.
Grizzly
Still weeks before most, if not all the bears will be up from their deep sleep. It's all about food, if they had food year around they would be no reason to sleep the winter away. Since in the mountains there is little to no food from late fall to spring, then sleeping is a great adaptation for surviving the winter. The big males are the first one to get up, the female with cubs and young bears are the last, the rest spread out in the middle. This big male who looks to be near or just under 600 pounds, looked like could still use more sleep when I saw him recently.
Bighorn Sheep
Spring is here but so is winter, during the longer days snow is melting and providing support to many animals dealing with the outdoors. For last several days, the nights have been cold, but by midday there is some warmth, enough to remove some snow and opening up hidden vegetation for the wildlife.
Mule Deer
When I first spotted this mule deer, she was off the road on the right hand side. I watched her slowly make her way into the middle of the road listening for something ahead of her. Not sure if she was listening for other deer or possible predator. She stood at this location for a few minutes before she decided to cross the road. I saw and heard nothing.
Red Fox
I came across this fox during a cold morning, a very cold morning, the temperature was minus 35 degree Celsius. The fox was hunting for voles, here it's standing still listening for the vole under the snow. In the end nothing was there, it moved on looking elsewhere for its breakfast.
Elk
This bull elk is facing a few challenges throughout the winter, main ones deal with the winter season, the cold temperatures and the amount of fallen snow. Using more energy if it's colder and more energy to get at the low quality food through the fallen snow. This bull like other elk may lose 20 to 25 percent of their weight over a winter and if he loses more than 30 percent, very likely he will not survive the winter. The winter might take it or if it's so weak, predators the likes of wolves or cougars will take it. It helps when the days start getting longer, it means shorter cold nights to deal with. Using the dense forest as cover, it can be few degrees warmer in the forest and protection from the wind. It may not make a difference for one day, but over a whole winter, every bit adds up. For wildlife it's the survival of the fittest, literally.
Elk
Once the rut season is over, the male Elk will get together and stay together until the next rut season. Few larger bulls will stay alone, if they are weak from not having enough time to eat during the rut season, losing up to 30 percent of the weight. And if cold weather arrives right after the rut season, it can end larger bull's life. But if they can find enough food and get back some energy. Then there's a good chance they will survive the winter and hope to compete in the next rutting season.
Mule Deer
This male mule deer was making its way through the forest, pauses long enough for me to get its picture. Still a few months to go before the snow melts from the valley and fresh green food starts growing. Always have to be on the move, being careful not to run into predators. Life can be little easier in the winter if he comes across one or two other males, always better to have more eyes looking out for danger.
Red Fox
Red fox's body length can be long as 90 cm, not including the long bushy tail, which can be as long as half a meter. The thick long red tail with the white tip helps with balance, it's used to communicate with other foxes and on cold days, like the one I saw this female on, it acts like a warm cover when napping.
Bighorn Sheep
How time flies, the 8th annual slideshow is coming up on Saturday, January 27. From 7 to 9 pm at the Cave and Basin NHS, for $4.90 per person. Each year is different, the weather and the amount of visitors to the parks played a big role in 2017, creating different opportunities for landscape, flora and fauna photography. If you're able to, come join me as I look back at some of the favourite moments from 2017 and the stories that go with them.
Mule Deer
It's not safe for animals to be on the road, but this mule deer decided to take a chance. The snow was deep off the road and there was no traffic. I watched from a distance as he go on the road and then decided to walk for a while on it before get off the road.
