Note to readers: Today my little traveling computer is not cooperating. I am working at a Thunder Bay Public Library computer station but it will not allow me to post photos. So I am going to make this a short post and try to get photos on tomorrow.
Neys Provincial Park:
There was a program at the visitors centre this night. A naturalist would be talking about the animals in Ontario. It would be a two hour talk, but I needed to get up early in the morning, so I would stay for an hour.
The naturalist was really a sort of game warden. He and his partner had a huge territory, from Sault Ste Marie to Npigon, from Lake Superior all the way to the Arctic Circle...and they were the only two covering that huge expanse. He pointed to his sidearm and said that the two of them were given special permission to carry guns by the Canadian Police. This nation is not heavy with guns, though rifles and shotguns are allowed.
He and his partner had a truck, two snowmobiles, two ATVs, and access to helicopters and planes as needed. They manage to get around.
What he is particularly in charge of is fur bearing animals, the kind that trappers are allowed by license to catch. He had a bag of furs with him from animals that had been trapped illegally. We were to guess the animals. He had so many! Wolves, lynx, skunks, mink, ermine, muskrats, beaver fox, seal,and more. In some cases, there were more than one kind. There were red and silver foxes, for example. There was one boy in the audience who knew many of the species because he had been in the park a year ago and heard the same talk. As for me, I knew two that no one else did. The badger is the state symbol of Wisconsin so that was easy. Thanks to Gary and a sighting we had along Highway 2 in Wisconsin, I knew the fisher.
There was one unusual fur...or rather skin. It was a piece of an albino moose.
I pointed out that I had never seen a moose and claimed the animal was a figment of their imagination.
The warden said that there are no live animal exhibits in Canada. They are not allowed. I rather liked that.
I finally left and went back to my campsite to climb into my tent. I tucked the flannel bag inside the medium size bag. The rangers had warned me that tonight the temperature would drop to 8 degrees C. which translates to about 47 degrees F. In fact, it was lower than that.
It was a chilly night. I wished I had brought a knit had and gloves along. But I survived.
Neys Provincial Park:
There was a program at the visitors centre this night. A naturalist would be talking about the animals in Ontario. It would be a two hour talk, but I needed to get up early in the morning, so I would stay for an hour.
The naturalist was really a sort of game warden. He and his partner had a huge territory, from Sault Ste Marie to Npigon, from Lake Superior all the way to the Arctic Circle...and they were the only two covering that huge expanse. He pointed to his sidearm and said that the two of them were given special permission to carry guns by the Canadian Police. This nation is not heavy with guns, though rifles and shotguns are allowed.
He and his partner had a truck, two snowmobiles, two ATVs, and access to helicopters and planes as needed. They manage to get around.
What he is particularly in charge of is fur bearing animals, the kind that trappers are allowed by license to catch. He had a bag of furs with him from animals that had been trapped illegally. We were to guess the animals. He had so many! Wolves, lynx, skunks, mink, ermine, muskrats, beaver fox, seal,and more. In some cases, there were more than one kind. There were red and silver foxes, for example. There was one boy in the audience who knew many of the species because he had been in the park a year ago and heard the same talk. As for me, I knew two that no one else did. The badger is the state symbol of Wisconsin so that was easy. Thanks to Gary and a sighting we had along Highway 2 in Wisconsin, I knew the fisher.
There was one unusual fur...or rather skin. It was a piece of an albino moose.
I pointed out that I had never seen a moose and claimed the animal was a figment of their imagination.
The warden said that there are no live animal exhibits in Canada. They are not allowed. I rather liked that.
I finally left and went back to my campsite to climb into my tent. I tucked the flannel bag inside the medium size bag. The rangers had warned me that tonight the temperature would drop to 8 degrees C. which translates to about 47 degrees F. In fact, it was lower than that.
It was a chilly night. I wished I had brought a knit had and gloves along. But I survived.
No comments:
Post a Comment