The wildlife of British Columbia

The wildlife of British Columbia

The past two weeks have been filled with unique wildlife moments and breathtaking landscapes, making it difficult to decide where to start in this update! The decision to explore an old forest road has led to some unique and memorable wildlife moments. We also tried to cross a mountain pass by driving a terrible 4x4 road but were stopped by a landslide, and we decided to relax at and enjoy some of British Columbia’s beautiful lakes during a minor heat wave!

What's in this update

  • Memorable wildlife moments on an old forest road

  • Stunning lakes in British Columbia

  • What's next?

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Memorable wildlife moments on an old forest road

The moment we were greeted by several black bears on the way to our spot, we knew we had made the right decision to drive deep into the forest. For the first few kilometers the gravel road was descent but unfortunately after 10km the road became filled with potholes and some parts were even flooded due to beavers who had built a dam nearby. At 40 km into the trail, the vegetation had changed into a wild mix of trees and bushes and we were stopped as the road was washed out. We found a nice spot to set up camp on a secondary channel of a large river and explored the area for activity. We saw lots of prints in the mud, of which some quite questionable (lynx, wolf or a coyote?), so we installed our camera trap and walked a short loop.
Staring contest with a black bear
Waiting for the locals to pass

As we saw so many bears in the area and the vegetation was quite thick, we didn’t wanted to run into a surprised bear and decided to stay close to our car and see which animals would visit the river. Around 7 pm, we suddenly saw movement only 10m away from us. Two beavers emerged of their “burrow” - which was nothing more than a fallen tree and some roots - and kept a cautious eye to us. What happened next really surprised us; they started grooming each other very close to us and were cutting branches to bring to their burrow, not at all bothered by our presence. We fell asleep with the sounds of beavers snapping twigs and sometimes woke up to a big splash caused by beaver’s tail hitting the water (their alarm call for danger).

Our camp spot (can you find our car?)
Happy neighbor

The next morning, we were drinking coffee when a large-tailed weasel came to see us. After inspecting our car, he ran around to check whether he could cross the river, which allowed us to get some images. After a minute or two, he jumped into the water and swam to the other side, vanishing in the thick vegetation.

We had some more moments with the beavers, saw elk, a cross fox and an American red fox. Though as it had started to rain, the increasing water levels forced us and the beavers to move to another location. After checking the trail camera (unfortunately nothing), we continued our journey north, but felt very fortunate to have experienced these unique moments with wildlife all by ourselves.

Long-tailed weasel looking for a place to cross the river
A curious cross fox

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Do these lakes get any more Canadian?

As we drove north on the Stewart-Cassiar highway, we made a few stops to enjoy the weather. Summer had arrived and the temperature had been close to 30°C for a few days. We found a few spots that were absolutely beautiful, and took a few days to relax, which was a welcome change.

Views from the road
A few days of relaxing at this stunning lake 

At one of the lakes we were regularly visited by two hummingbirds. We had seen hummingbirds a few times (in Newfoundland and Ontario), but it never resulted in any photographic opportunities. Early the next morning I took a little walk around the campsite and saw a small snowshoe hare. I guarantee you that nothing beats their level of cuteness. If you think there is an animal that does that, please let us know ;) It quickly disappeared into the vegetation and I was only able to capture this older but beautiful adult in the early morning light.

A regular visitor
Snowshoe hare on an early morning

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What's next?

We recently entered the Yukon province and will explore the region of Atlin lake. We will drive the South Canol road North and search for pikas in the mountains. As always, we try to camp on the really remote places to hopefully get a glimpse of the local wildlife passing by.

We hope you have a nice summer so far and enjoyed this update! Want to get these updates earlier? Then make sure to subscribe to our mailing list below and get our travel updates in your inbox!

Until next time! 

 

 

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