The Free Radical

Sometimes you can just feel that it’s going to be a special day. What might make it so special? Well… let’s see… How about 3 eagles, 2 hawks, a snake, 5 whitetail deer, a turkey vulture, plenty of ravens and a bear! It’s almost getting ridiculous!

The seeds of this adventure were already sown a couple of weeks ago. It was something Darren said during our last expedition into the Gorge looking for devil’s club buds.

Darren had said it even before we had stumbled upon the first real bear sign of the season– a pile of poop in the backcountry below the Gorge. So we knew they were around.

In Canada, this last weekend was the one that really kicks off the tourist season, Monday being Victoria Day… or some such silly colonial nonsense. By the time Monday rolled around, I was ready to get away from the weekend warriors and head into the deep, pristine backcountry… again.

The moment I stepped out on my deck at home, I knew that it was going to be a special day. Already, I spotted three eagles circling above the Fairmont townsite.

Then, exactly where we typically park the truck, we encountered the fifth snake of this young season. Perhaps the profusion of snakes helps explain the prevalence of so many raptors.

I showed the snake to Sitka because the dogs always seem to miss them, stepping over them on the trail obliviously. Sitka followed it into the tall grass beside the road intrigued, as I made sure she didn’t try to grab it.

And then it was merely seconds after that when we encountered a hawk. This one I’m calling DeadWing because he appeared to be missing some flight feathers from one of his wings… although it didn’t seem to hamper his flight at all.

Once we had completed the initial ascent, we were into the raucous dramatics of Raven’s incessant chatter. Rodney sat out on a power-pole for us croaking, as his brethren bickered in the forest and the swamp. (You can always tell Rodney by his somewhat scruffy appearance.)

Raven always seems to presage significant encounters…

This is looking back, where we’d just crossed the swamp. Basically, where I’m standing with the camera is the place on the ground from where Master Red-Tail (Piudi) flew up gracefully and headed over to the swamp. That was excellent reassurance when heading into the thick, untrammelled wilderness beyond.

Somehow, already, I knew that we were going to encounter a bear. I was just wondering how the encounter might go down with the dogs– Toby and Sitka had never seen a bear before– when we turned the corner on the logging road… and there he was about forty yards ahead.

He was busy munching on something, so he didn’t notice us. I quietly called the dogs to me as I fished in my pack for my camera. The dogs recognized the urgency in my voice, but were oblivious to what was going on. They milled about me as I snapped a couple of pics.

I whistled to alert the bear to our presence, hoping that he might stand up and face us, but alas, the dogs immediately keyed into what was happening… and the chase was on!

Only Sitka stuck with the pursuit until she had treed him… and then she began barking. (She’d never barked at any animals before.) I quickly called her off, and she returned promptly. Immediately we heard the tumult of the bear coming back down the tree and his crashing through the dense forest in order to distance himself from these strange intruders. The noise was such that I wondered if this was perhaps a two-year-old cub who might still be with his mama. He was quite small, whereas the sounds I was hearing were quite ‘large.’

Anyway, we continued on our way, happily excited. It was no more than three minutes after that when we heard/saw five whitetail deer scurrying through the forest beside as, very near to where we’d just left the bear (bears?).

The forest is mostly tight and thick here, so in the few clearings along the way we stretch our eyes to dispel any psychological claustrophobia.

Our foraging mission in the Gorge was more than successful. Not only did we find adequate Devil’s Club to make it worthwhile, but I also noted the profusion of wild currants, high bush cranberries, and elderberry trees. Also, we found plenty of freshly sprung False Solomon’s Seal, our new favourite green forage as recommended by Piudi (Sasquatch friend). The dogs and I feasted!

Then, as we were coming down, right where the sky begins to open up a bit, we spotted a turkey vulture just above the treetops. I identified this raptor as Turkey Vulture based on the way it held its wings in flight. As I’ve pointed out before, Turkey Vulture will very rarely find need to flap its huge wings. They also hold them up in more of a V than other raptors who tend to fly with their wings stretched out more-or-less flat.

Then, when we finally got home– about five hours later– there was a bit of a party going on at my house– not an uncommon occurrence during long weekends.

Apparently, Raven still felt some obligation to keep an eye on me as I joined the party. I noticed him in the tree across from my deck most of the evening.

It wasn’t Rodney though… not nearly enough scruff!

And that concludes our long weekend adventure… Rather remarkable, I’d say!