Encounter with Magnificent BC Wildlife

This evening, while driving through gorgeous snow-capped mountain roads from Kinkolith to Terrace, from where we will begin our flights home, we encountered a number of magnificent wild creatures.

First, a silver fox mama and her two pups turned up at the side of the road. We had just videopated the Nisga’a Creation Story as told to us by Chief of Chiefs Chester Moore. This story includes a character who is a trickster. I wondered if the little foxes appeared because foxes are often portrayed as tricksters. The beautiful creatures trotted into the middle of the road in front of our rental car. John brought the car to a halt. They walked around the car! I was so excited I fumbled with the video camcorder and finally managed to turn it on and press the “record” button. They continued to amble around the car, occasionally stopping to sit and scratch or yawn. It was as if we did not exist. This stretch of road has few travelers. However, when a jeep drove toward us from the other direction, the driver, when she saw the foxes, slowed down to a crawl. She waved from behind the wheel as she passed us. Her delighted grin communicated a shared enjoyment of the wild creatures.

The fox family would have been enough to fulfill our evening. However, after we had driven for another 20 minutes or so, John called out, “Is that a bear!” Sure enough, a brown bear lurked on the other side of the road. Again, as if we did not exist, the bear began to pad across the road in front of our car, which, by now, John had slowed down. This time, I had the camcorder ready. However, as I videotaped, I felt afraid because the bear stopped in the middle of the road and lifted its head up and down in our direction as if he or she was sniffing us.

Yesterday, we had heard a story about a grizzly bear which had taken on a car. Evidently, the driver had had to quickly throw the car into reverse to get away from the maniac bear.

Fortunately, this brown bear simply leisurely continued to cross the road. It padded down the gravel slope and into the forest. It must be amazingly well camouflaged because by the time we drifted alongside the place where we had seen the bear move into the forest, it had disappeared behind leaves and trunks.

It wasn’t until we had proceeded along the lonely road a number of miles that I realized that I had been so excited at seeing the bear that I had forgotten to take any still photographs of the bear. Therefore, when John exclaimed, “There’s a deer!” I was ready with my Nikon.
It was a black-tailed buck. He stood behind a couple of tree trunks on our side of the road watching us. My camera has a powerful zoom lens. I focused the lens and clicked the shutter a couple of times. But, the digital instant playback showed only a black screen. In my exictement, I was doing something wrong but could not figure out what!

I grabbed the video camera and captured the antlered creature wagging his tail, followed by his slow steps into the forest until he diappeared behind the branches of an evergreen tree.

It was a magnificent drive through the wilderness. This area of northern BC is fantastic!

Carol Chapman