A Mountain Meander Part 2

Our Mountain Meander was a spontaneous decision on a lazy morning. We didn’t leave very early, and therefore didn’t expect to encounter much in the way of wildlife. We certainly didn’t see much for birds – gray jays, ravens, black-capped chickadees and red-tailed hawks were about all the flying wildlife we saw.

When we arrived in Sheep River Provincial Park, we stopped so the dog could stretch her paws (on the leash). As we were walking down a little trail, we came upon a mule deer doe, who was obviously used to people, as she took one look the calmly carried on feeding.

Setting aside any natural area for wildlife always comes with a compromise. In this case, it is shared with free ranging cattle who are given the run of the place in the summer, and rounded up in the fall.  It always annoyed me that these animals are grazing on grass that should be for wildlife, but I used to comfort myself that they made excellent cougar and wolf food. As it turns out though, various biological studies have found that cougars in particular, rarely take cattle and prey mainly on deer, sheep and elk. So now the cows annoy me again.

This particular area is famous for its bighorn sheep population, and we saw two groups of them. The first was resting in a spectacular setting, and the second small bunch of juveniles were grazing right beside the road.

Most of the juvenile animals had ear tags. The University of Calgary has had an ongoing project studying the bighorn population in this area for over 45 years. It is the longest running ungulate study in North America, and has taught generations of students about wildlife management.

As we were walking along the river bank heading for Sheep River Falls, a mourning cloak butterfly came down to the rocks for a drink. I wasn’t expecting butterflies and yellow leaves at the same time, but apparently this species overwinters here.

We stopped for lunch at Bluerock Campground, and within minutes we had a couple of red squirrels come to check us out. Yes, I know you’re not supposed to feed the wildlife but sheesh, it was a squirrel, and I had all these grapes… I put a few on the ground at the base of the tree, and he was at them almost immediately.

Ever since I was a little girl, my family members have been telling me not to feed red squirrels. You would think they’d realize by now that I’m not listening. And you don’t even want to know how many pictures I took of this little guy.