When
I was seven years old my family made the move to a smaller, more
rural town in western Canada.
Our
house was settled right in front of a forest where people would
frequently go walking or hiking, and the trails led deep into the
woods and up to lookouts and other interesting areas.
Growing
up here I've had quite a few encounters with wild animals.
Most
notably so are the deer. We see white tails and mule deer all the
time here, both in the forest and just around town. They often come
to our back fence, grazing just beside it. If I'm quiet enough I can
often go sit right by the fence and watch them.
I
have a fond memory back in July 2019, when I walked out into our
backyard early in the morning, around 7 to 8.
The
sun was illuminating the world in a radiant glow, and I saw a big doe
by the fence.
I
watched her for a while, wondering if she had a fawn hidden
somewhere.
I
was about to walk back inside when a nagging thought told me to stay,
and sure enough, as I looked back, I heard a slight rustle of bushes
and saw a tiny head peering out from a sea of green.
There.
A tiny fawn, its eyes bright and innocent and coat adorned with silky
white spots.
I
took a few photos of them with my phone camera, marveling in how
delicate and small the fawn was. It touched noses with its mother,
only its neck visible in the tall grass.
Another
deer I remember was Ol’ Three Legs, a little whitetail buck who
had his right hind leg missing. I often wondered what his story was.
I last saw him in November 2023.
As
is customary, all deer shed their antlers every year. I've found a
few sheds in the forest behind our house before. They're nothing
spectacular but still sport a kind of sacred, almost magic like
feeling when you find them. Many people where I'm from make quite a
lot of money from collecting the bigger sheds off the mountains.
In
2022, for whatever reason when a tiny little spike lost his antlers,
I decided to search for them until I found them. And I did find them
eventually, closer than I originally expected.
I
still don't know why I was so adamant to find them. They're just
spikes. For the fun of it, I figure.
As
for bears and cougars, I often hear about their sightings more than I
see them. Although one year we did have a young black bear huddled in
a tree behind our house. We could see him from the window.
Another
popular animal sighting here is, of course, birds. I see woodpeckers
and little chickadees regularly. Specifically, a big red headed
woodpecker seems to visit us quite a bit. Once in 2022 I found a
hollowed out tree full of little tiny birds, kind of a grayish tone.
When I got near and peeked inside the tree, they began making noises
nearly akin to a dinosaur of some sort.
Painted
turtles are yet another common creature that grace the nearby lakes
here. Oftentimes you can kayak right up to them, and they'll
skittishly dive into the water where you can see them swimming below
the surface. They’re often dressed with hints of vivid yellow
and orange on their bodies, which I heard was from the carotenoids in
the food they eat.
September
2021 I made pretty good friends with a squirrel. At least, I think I
did. For all I know he could've thought I was the wicked witch of the
west. How am I supposed to know? I was sitting by a tree and he was
running around on the logs beside me. He was quite the curious little
thing, talkative too. I got a few pictures of him.
I’ve
also attended some hunting trips with my Dad over the years and have
seen a great deal of wildlife solely from those. Many deer and elk,
of course, but also other exciting specimen like moose, an owl, and
rams. There's always plenty of rabbits and hares too, scrabbling on
and off the roads seemingly playing their own dangerous game of
Frogger.
This
year as always I've seen plenty of deer. Most recently being a mule
buck by our fence still carrying his crown, which is slightly rare as
most deer have already dropped their antlers by March 25th. He was
shaking his head lots, and I suspected they would drop soon.
I
frequently walk in the woods myself and have come across a few elk
that hang around in a specific field back there. Whenever I approach
they stick their heads up and do that sort of cautious, high stepped,
nonchalant stroll away.
A
little while ago on an outing, while heading down the road I even
caught glimpse of something small and dog-like in the forest to my
left. My eyes didn't get much time to hone in on it before it
skittered away, fleet and silent, a long ribbon of white tipped red
strung out behind it. That was when I realized it was a fox.
The
wildlife is abundant here, for sure, and it's always neat to see what
lurks around every corner. I've seen my fair share of creatures and I
hope to see many more, but among my favorites will always be those
that are the most grandiose, the big bucks and the big elk. Anything
unique and captivating, something that looks like it has a story also
piques my interest. Sometimes deer can have an odd rack, or a weird
scar and such. I like looking for character in an animal, something
that sets it apart from the rest. Something to make my mind spin a
little and wonder, "how did they get that?".
Here's
to many more adventures in western Canada, and I hope you have many
of your own, wherever you are situated in the world.
Lexi
Simpson is a 19 year old woman from B.C, Canada. She enjoys painting,
writing, horseback riding and target shooting, as well as anything to
do with the great outdoors.
