Bison, Bears & Moose... Oh My

Jon took Willow & I down the backroads to go look for bears. His supervisor had seen a cinnamon bear and a black bear with cubs that day and Jon had seen a black bear with cubs, so I was so excited to go on a "bear hunt". We drove all the way to the bison enclosure and didn't see one animal besides bunnies and the bison of course. By the time we got to the bison the lighting was dreamy.

I love what the gravel and wind did to this image

It was such a sweet surprise to see some little babes roaming about. I made Jon drive us around some more because I was determined to see some bears. We finally saw one just when we were going to call it a night yayayayayyaaaaa. We are so lucky! After I saw the beauty I was hooked. I had to go for another drive the very next eve.

Willow and I hopped in the car and saw quite a few moose which I LOVE, but I have bears on my mind. It's so pathetic that I actually search so hard that my eyes get sore haha. 

The moose and deer are pretty skinny after a rough, long winter

I went to the same spot where I saw the momma bear the night before and sure enough there she was, chomping down pounds and pounds of grass. I sat and watched her for a good half hour until Willow decided it was time to go. I saw one of her cubs trying desperately to climb a tree but it just kept falling. So stinking cute. The momma would go up the hill and nudge the baby back down. I think it was bed time. She was such a good momma and would run to the top of hill at any little sound her babes would make. I was just mesmerized by her.  I didn't get a good view of the cubs as they were to high up.

I love when they sniff the air

I was so happy I got to see her again. As I was driving back home I decided I wanted to go and snap a couple of shots of the lake. I was just about to pull over when out of nowhere this huge monster comes barreling out of the woods.

I don't know who was more scared, him or I. I stared him down and grabbed my camera to sneak a couple of shots. When I went to drive off he went running off into the woods but kept his eye on me. Needless to say my lake shots were going to have to wait.

"Bear hunting" is my new favourite pass time. If I came across this big boy and the mama with her cubs outside of my car I don't think I would enjoy my hobby as much.

Plus 10

I don't mean to toot my own horn here but you are reading the blog of an animal whisperer. I am soooo good at spotting wild animals and am overly obsessed with them and could watch them forever. Don't be confused though, as much as I love them, I am totally scared out of my mind of them. I would not want to be walking by myself and see a lynx, cougar, wolf, bear, coyote or any other type of carnivorous animal of the wild type. I would totally panic and probably pee in my pants. I live in a National Park and probably always will, I need to get over this fear of being by myself outside. I seriously am terrified of letting my dogs out at night. Embarrassing, I know. There is something about Moose though. They don't freak me out. Maybe it's because I see them more than any other animal (besides deer). I probably should be scared of them as I witnessed one charge J in our front yard and have heard some pretty freaky stories of others being charged, but Moose are my homies. I am in love.

J & I have a pretty nerdy wicked competition going on. We have a point system for who sees a wild animal first. I was kicking his hiney harrrrd. Until this day....

I spotted this beauty from afar. She was spooked easily and ran into the forest pretty quickly. Either way she was considered a plus two.

And then it wasn't even a minute later when J said "Shhhhh, look".

And this beauty was watching us while soaking in the sun.

 She did not even flinch when she saw us. She was soaking up that warm sun and chomping on her sweet cud, right beside us!

J definitely got a plus 10 for this find. Ugh he is in the lead.

Yes, this is how you must keep yourself entertained when you see more animals than people on a regular basis. ;P

Where The Buffalo Roam

EEEEEE after almost a month without the internet it's finally here!!! The ground will have to be dug up to keep us connected come Spring as we are the only year round residents on this side of the street. So for now hooking the computer up to my phone will have to do :)

My gang and I have only really spent just over two weeks in our new place. The holiday season is so busy for us in Manitoba. There is so much going on between parties, visits, and shopping that we have been spending a lot of our time at my parents house. When we got back a couple of nights ago after being gone for just under a week there was some suspicious looking prints making there way right up to our door. I have a feeling Timbit was teasing a wolf or a very large coyote. Needless to say J's job is to take the dogs out for their nightly pee no matter what after seeing that.

It's funny here, our new house is much closer to a big city and the nearest town is only a 5 minute drive away but I feel so much more isolated here than in Cape Breton. Right now the town is closed until summer so I know it will be a different feeling come then. I have only heard amazing things about the summertime here. It will be also be better when we meet more friends. Thank god J is on parental leave until April because I think I would be going crazy right about now. I get very home sick for Cape Breton when we are not visiting our families or friends. I have found myself crying for the ocean a couple of times. As long as we are outside doing fun activities as a family I seem to forget my need for the salty sea. Ughhh that darn ocean has such a pull.

Yesterday we took a drive down the road to check out some bison. And what a sweet surprise, the bison had CALVES!!! I know way too exciting. Animals excite me beyond belief but BABY ANIMALS?!?! Come onnnnnnn!!!

Hungry little nursing babe <3 The bison on the right hand side is eating too. They always have snowy heads as they bury their huge faces in the snow to get to the grass underneath. So cute!

I was nervous about one of them charging the car. This one sure gave me a stare down for a good while

Some would say it was rather stupid of us to be traveling down these paths with our little car. But we looked at it as an adventure. No cell service, wild animals among us, freezing temps and and a baby. Ok maybe it was stupid, and we realized this half way in and turned around. But we didn't get stuck and we had lots and lots of fun.

 It definitely wouldn't be a proper family adventure without spotting a Moose

If you look closely you can spot a coyote or a wolf

Eeyore

Another beach post, sorrryyy, well not really. These photos are from two days ago at the beach in front of our house. The weather was just above 0 and the dogs, J & I were loving it!! There are so many moose around lately because its easier for them to get around in the flats. We always leave our dog off leash at the beach this time of year as we are always the only ones on the beach. Seriously, where does everyone in our town hangout? Probably only an eighth of the town works this time of year. I NEED the beach daily. This time there was a young bull moose hanging out in the woods just off the sand. Our silly dog Maple loves to tease moose and I am nervous one day she is going to get a boot. You can't get her away from the moose, she gets in this crazy state and loves to just bark and annoy the crap out of the poor animal. Thankfully this bull was so young and so calm because Mapes was being extra annoying. We learned if we just run away Maple will chase after us. It was a good learning experience.

Hey guys, hurry up!!!

We got her back on leash and walked her back to the moose to try and get her used to him

lol

Big cutie

This one kind of reminds me of Eeyore

Hey there handsome

Lil's fave past time

Disguise

I am soooo happy J is back for a couple of weeks for way too many reasons. I will name just a few...

- I love him and love spending time with him
- He keeps me warm at night. That sounds totally cheezy and ridic  but seriously. Our upstairs is so cold at night and that extra body heat does wonders.
- I don't have to shovel.
- He lets out the dogs every morning while I stay cozy in bed.
- I don't have to cook every night. Cooking for one tends to get boring.
- He is a clean freak. So my house is always spotless when he's home :)
- We have so much fun together and I get to laugh with someone other than just at my self. He is also a big clutz so it's funny to watch him fall and run into things all day. I'm sick like that.
- He gets to come to the ultra sound tomorrow!! He hasn't heard the babies heartbeat yet so this will be extra special.
- I get to smooch him everyday
- When the fire alarm spontaneously likes to go off in the middle of the night, I won't be the only one running around in a frenzy.
- He takes out the trash

Yep, I am one lucky lady!!!

This rant stemmed from the other night when I was alone. Maple's leash got stuck around our outdoor fireplace. She kept barking and barking at something in the woods. So I went out to go and get her but was scared out of my mind when I too hear the rustling in the bushes. I was thinking either Moose or Coyotes. But the more worked up Maple got, the more the upset the animal in the bush got. Keep in mind it's pitch black out as I live in the woods. The animal that I can't see starts grunting like a bull, so I know this is a moose. I must go on a mission and run to my dog and quickly untangle her and run back to the house with her in tow, pregnant, with snow up to my knees. Ohhhhhh the life and times of hill billy Jenna :p The mission was a success. The moose only bluff charged us and Maple and I came out of it bruise/death free. Winning!!

When I got up in the morning to let the dogs out the silly moose was sleeping in our backyard. I snapped some pictures and her looks are deceiving. This animal was disguised as a beautiful angelic creature in the daylight but turns demonic at night, I swear.

Look at that dirty look!!

Say Hello To My Furry Friends

I have been waiting and waiting and WAITING for my moose friends to come back into the neighbourhood and pay me a visit. I knew they couldn't resist my luscious tree branches for too long.

I have seen a moose in my yard nearly everyday for the past two weeks and this fills my heart with so much joy. It too makes my my heart beat a little bit faster when I go outside at night to let my dogs out and there is this huge beast of an animal staring at you.

A momma deer and 3 of her babes were hanging out in my backyard