January 1, 2024

Grizzly Bear Eats Horse

One of Kootenay’s patrol horses left behind an interesting legacy. Named Star, the horse passed away from old age in 1976. Star gave many good years of service to the park! As was the practice at the time, Star’s remains were moved from the pasture to a site along the West Kootenay fire road. The horse’s scent was picked up by a grizzly bear. Hans Fuhrer, a park warden at the time, followed the bear up the fire road in his truck. He remembers that “when the bear found the horse it jumped up and down on it like a kid finding a bag of candy.” After several days, the grizzly gained a lot of weight and had to rest.

It is fitting that Star’s last contribution as a Parks Canada horse was to the ecosystem of Kootenay National Park.

Posted on January 1, 2024 04:41 AM by larryhalverson larryhalverson | 0 comments | Leave a comment

May 4, 2023

Endangered Fern On Parks Canada Coin

An endangered fern found only near Fairmont Hot Springs made headlines around the country last week. The southern maidenhair fern, along with three other endangered species, now decorates a new Parks Canada commemorative coin.
Critics have said the choice of the fern makes no sense, considering the plant is 30 kilometres from Kootenay National Park.

Pam Veinotte, superintendant for Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay National Parks defended the decision, citing Parks Canada’s ecosystem- based management system.
“Parks Canada regularly works collaboratively with our neighbours on projects relating to protection, education or visitor experience,” Ms. Veinotte said. “It is with a spirit of collaboration and a shared sense of history that, from time to time, we proudly lend our expertise to and participate in conservation projects occurring outside our park borders.”
That was the case when in 2000, Parks naturalist Larry Halverson and Gail Berg of the B.C. Ministry of Forests and Range, found an undiscovered second population of the southern maidenhair fern in Fairmont.

“We were exploring and found the motherlode,” said Mr. Halverson, now retired. “The other population was dwindling, but this was a viable population.”
The fern, thought to be extinct in Canada during the 1960s, was declared endangered in 1984.

After the discovery of the second fern population, Parks Canada joined forces with provincial biologists, botanists and ecologists to complete a recovery project for the fern that continues to this day.

“Parks was terrific in that they were completely part of the team,” said Ted Antifeau, a rare and endangered species biologist with the B.C. Ministry of Environment and chair of the team. “When you have a nationally threatened species in Canada and engage in the recovery process, the feds should get involved and they did through Parks Canada.”

The team tried to improve the situation of the endangered species by educating the land owners on whose property the fern grows. Fairmont Hot Spring Resort, one of the owners, has taken the education very seriously and will not reveal the exact location of the fern on its property.

“We don’t want breeders or plant people coming around,” said Richard Haworth, the vice president of development for the resort. “It looks like a fern that is in your house and unless you’re looking for it, it’s hard to see.”

The fern thrives there due to the humid micro-climate created by the hot springs. The next closest location of the fern is in North Dakota, while its main habitat is more than 1,000 kilometres south of Fairmont.
No one knows how the fern got to the Fairmont area, or why it is not found near the hot springs in Radium. It is thought to be a relic from an earlier geological era as experts do not believe that European settlers brought it with them. Monitoring of the fern continues today to ensure it keeps thriving in the local area.

Posted on May 4, 2023 04:57 AM by larryhalverson larryhalverson | 0 comments | Leave a comment

December 15, 2022

Sharing the Dinner Table

Bighorn Sheep are among the most social of the mountain park hoofed
mammals. They often share their winter-spring ranges with other herbivores,
both wild and domestic. But because Mountain Goats prefer steeper and
rockier terrain and deer eat mostly woody browse, they are not significant
competitors. But where Elk are abundant on some winter ranges they may
compete with bighorns for forage.

Posted on December 15, 2022 04:31 AM by larryhalverson larryhalverson | 0 comments | Leave a comment

March 27, 2022

Turdus migratorius Migration

American Robins are quintessential early bird whose appearance at the end of winter gives hope for longer and warmer days.

Rick Howie, retired BC Habitat Biologist and one of Canada’s best naturalist explains robin migration.

“While migration is heavily influenced by day length and the genetics of birds themselves, temperature and weather do trigger bird movements. In the spring, the northward movement of Robins often matches a line across North America where the average temperature is 2 degrees centigrade. As temperatures warm and this isotherm moves northward, the majority of robins follow it. Many birds have the capacity to sense advancing pressure systems so it is possible that they could move south ahead of a major cold front while fighting the urge to remain north as the day lengthen towards spring. The benefits of staying north and being the first birds back to the grounds can be risky business.”

Posted on March 27, 2022 10:02 PM by larryhalverson larryhalverson | 1 observation | 0 comments | Leave a comment

February 11, 2022

Snow Fleas

If you have not seen them you would likely classify Snow Fleas in the same category as the Sasquatch and SideHill Gougers. But those who have seen thousands of tiny dark specks hopping about on the snow, know that Snow Fleas are real.

They are usually seen on winter days when the temperature is warmer than -4 degrees C. During these days, the Snow Fleas are moving about on the snow surface searching for something to eat — usually pollen or other windblown organic material.

Snow Fleas are not fleas in the true sense, but belong to an order of insects called Springtails. They are minute, wingless insects that normally move about by walking on the tips of their claws. However, when frightened they release· their springtail (an appendage that is bent forward under the body just in-front of the rear end) which catapults them forward. It is this hopping motion that gives them their common name - Snow flea.

Snow Fleas are not the only insects capable of surviving in cold weather. There are also Snow Spiders, Snow Scorpion-flies and Snow Crane Flies. They all demonstrate a remarkable biological phenomenon of remaining active in sub-zero temperatures. There is not a great deal known about how these cold-blooded insects manage this feat. However, Naturalist John Woods men­tions in his article One Step From Death “that the Snow Cranefly body fluids freeze slightly below zero enabling them to function in a supercooled state.” In other words they can move about when they should be frozen solid. John also states "we do know that supercooled animals are living on the edge of death. A sudden jolt, the knock from a branch, a whack from a falling clump of snow, can start a chain reaction crystallizing their body fluids and killing them in their tracks." Whether or not Snow Fleas operate with a similar an­tifreeze is not known. In any case, knowing that Snow Fleas do exist should make your next winter walk or cross-country ski trip more interesting.

Posted on February 11, 2022 03:17 AM by larryhalverson larryhalverson | 1 observation | 0 comments | Leave a comment

April 4, 2021

Chickadee Love Song

Most everyone can identify the bird that sings a rapid, nasal chickadee-dee-dee. It is the call the chickadee uses to challenge intruder or to express alarm and it can be heard anytime during the year. However in April, which is the beginning of the courtship season, the chickadee adds a less familiar tune to its vocabulary. It sings a sweet two-toned whistle of two or three notes, the first being higher and longer than the last one or
two. This "love song" sounds like feee-bee or if you listen closer to lunchtime it sounds more like cheezzee-burger. The song can be heard from now until the early part of the nesting season. It is a delightful ditty, which means spring is here.

Posted on April 4, 2021 03:48 AM by larryhalverson larryhalverson | 1 observation | 0 comments | Leave a comment

November 29, 2020

Northern Hawk Owl

Northern Hawk Owl, an owl in hawk's clothing. It is a fitting description
considering the bird’s appearance and behaviour. At first glance, the crow
sized Hawk Owl resembles an overgrown Kestrel. The wings are relatively
short and pointed and its flight is swift and direct. The tail is long and
wedge shaped. Another hawk-like similarity is its habit of perching on the
tops of power poles or dead trees to survey the ground for movement of
small mammals. When the prey is spotted it drops from its perch and bullets
towards its meal (usually a meadow vole). Hunting during the daylight makes
the Hawk Owl even more akin to hawks. Yet, with all these similarities, the
Hawk Owl’s large head, soft feathers and large yellow eyes mark it as a
true owl.

The reason it is called Northern Hawk Owl is that they are essentially a
sub-artic bird. Occasionally, though, they wander south during sever
winters when food shortages occur in the north.

Posted on November 29, 2020 11:29 PM by larryhalverson larryhalverson | 2 observations | 0 comments | Leave a comment

June 9, 2020

House Finches are Singing

The songs of House Finches were not always heard in the Columbia Valley. In fact they were unknown in the province until 1935, when a pair of House Finches were reported nesting in Penticton. By 1937 they had also arrived on the coast and were observed nesting in Victoria. From these 2 small pioneering populations the House Finch launched its rapid range expansion into British Columbia. By 1970 it had moved east into the Southern Interior Mountains and was recorded near Cranbrook. House Finches first appeared on the Lake Windermere Christmas Bird Count in 1994 And now are a common sighting at local bird feeders.

Posted on June 9, 2020 01:45 PM by larryhalverson larryhalverson | 1 observation | 1 comment | Leave a comment

February 14, 2020

Columbia Spotted Frog Tadpole

For the last couple of weeks Columbia Spotted Frog tadpoles are changing (metamorphosis) into frogs. You can see the fully developed hind legs in this photo. The front legs develop inside the tadpole’s body and do not become visible until they pop out fully formed. This tadpole had also lost it’s gills and was seen swimming to the surface to suck in air. The tail is the last to disappear as it is reabsorbed into the body.

Metamorphosis is a particularly hazardous time for amphibians as they do function well in either water or on land. At this stage they are less efficient at avoiding predation than either tadpoles or frogs.

Posted on February 14, 2020 05:09 AM by larryhalverson larryhalverson | 1 observation | 0 comments | Leave a comment

Wolf Tracks

Wolves spend 8 -10 hours/day on the move and can travel great distances.

Wolf tracks, like those of all canids, show four toes on each foot with claw marks present. The tracks of a wolf and large a dog are indistinguishable, even to a trained wolf biologist.
The secret to telling the two apart is not in looking at the tracks, but in examining the behaviour of the animal that made them. A dog will move in a wandering crisscrossing path, stopping often to play, sniff, and dig. A wolf, on the other hand, moves more in a direct line. They march most often in single file and only stray from their course to investigate danger or potential food.

The wolf's front legs are close together but their knees turn in and their paws turn outward allowing their front feet to set a path which their hind feet follow precisely. When trotting, wolves leave a neat single line of track, an advantage when moving through deep snow.

Wolf tracks will wander more when snow is not too deep, creating a pattern of braided footprints and making it easier for observers to number individuals traveling in the pack. There were 5 in this pack.

So next time you are out in the snow - check for tracks.

Posted on February 14, 2020 12:53 AM by larryhalverson larryhalverson | 1 observation | 0 comments | Leave a comment

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