Wapiti

Wapiti (Cervus elaphus) is the second largest (After the Moose) and most highly evolved of the Old World Deer. It is also known as the American elk but here in Canada it's called a Wapiti--Shawnee for "white rump." Wapiti came to North America at the end of the last ice age and expanded their range and population only after the extinction of the American mega fauna about 11,000 years ago.

Owen and I had just hiked up the Spray Lakes and we split up for the last leg, as we biked home. I wanted to ride along the dike that forms the bottom lake and Owen wanted to take the highway--his road bike just can't handle the off-road adventures like my trusty green hill-bombing machine.

As I neared the rendezvous point I saw several Wapiti going to down to get a drink. I slowed down and got my trusty black D2X out. They were a little far away but with the mountains in the background everything looks pretty photo-worthy.

Just then the crazy Wapiti opted for a swim instead of a drink. I was amazed to see them wade into the reservoir and start swimming. They don't look particularly buoyant but they swam quite quickly. I was snapping intermittently until they scooted out and over the dike and trotted down the valley.

Frankly, I was disappointed when I moved to Canmore that there was no movie theater. I wondered if they just went out with buckets of popcorn and stared at the snow capped bluffs. Lately however I've been thinking about my new library card and the aquatic Wapiti and deciding that maybe I've got plenty of entertainment, I'll just have to venture out to find it. There just might be a evening soon when the neighbors will be asking one another what that American kid is doing with a bowl of popcorn standing out in his yard.

Planned Burns

There is an epidemic of Pine Beetles in the forests of Eastern British Columbia and Western Alberta. It is a naturally occurring pest that has had the unwitting assistance of humans to help it along. Normally forests periodically burn. It's actually very good for them as long as it's not too often and they come back healthier then before. Modern times however have seen us prevent forest fires that were long overdue and we have forests full of trees that are too old to defend themselves from the beetles. A healthy tree can produce enough sap that when the beetles attack it repels them. An older treee however, basically over 80 or so, can't produce much sap and it becomes a breeding ground until it's dead. Once the beetle populations get immense they can even take down healthy young trees and then you have a real epidemic like the one we have now. To slow the spread they are burning parts of the forest this spring.

Even if it is a controlled burn you are still in awe when the smoke plume crests the mountains' ridges. This smoke appeared as we biked away from the house and I took these photos less then 20 minutes later. If it wasn't a planned burn I think I would have been scared witless and headed straight for the river.