Creatures Who Visit Camping Areas

Just wanted to know if you were going to continue this thread with more animals or not. If you'd like I could contribute some as well. Let me know.

 

There are a lot of creatures that have come into camp over the years, bears, raccoons, a badger, one evening a great horned owl landed near by, screech owls, the usual chipmunks, red squirrel just to name a few.

But on one occasion a wolf.

It was shortly after lunch while I was taking the last sips of my coffee. A stones throw away this lone wolf prances out of the bush and darts across open territory. Immediately I jumped to my feet knowing well that there is something wrong with this scene. Wolves do not come close to human kind. I did observe that there was a slight but definite physical obstruction of some sort. I could see as he strutted into the forested area that his manner was, though fast, a bit laboured.

I checked into the area rangers office and reported the same. They knew about this lone wolf but were keeping to parks policy (Algonquin Provincial Park) and would not interfere or do anything unless the creature became dangerous. They knew that it was injured in some way. It was already the middle of September and he advised that come the winter he would die. It was like he was quoting directly from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book when he said, "The strength of the wolf is the pack and the strength of the pack is the wolf."

[Oh....this is real hilarious - on radio 740 AM (Toronto) at 7:26 P.M. they are talking about...of all things... an unidentified forest creature that sort of looks like a man that was responsible for some kind of animal attack.] What are the chances of that kind of topic coming up?

When I returned the following year I made an enquiry as to the wolves fate and was advised that the wolf had become a nuisance and was shot.

Sad

 

Fantastic - I love this stuff. I'm just like a little kid when it comes to viewing any kind of wildlife. Here a picture that I took last year in Algonquin Park. Yeah, I wondered how they don't knock themselves out. The more I see and learn of nature the more I am in awe of all creation. Those green green leaves - oh how I miss them. We just had another major snow storm in our area. Yesterday was really warm and the snow had melted off my canoe - I thought to myself, it will not be long now. THANKS FOR SHARING!

 

In a matter of a few moments the author was able to explain some rather remarkable facts about wood peckers in general. I thought the information on how the bird communicates rather interesting.

 

I have not seen one of these in years. Though that is true I always worry about Reese meeting either this creature or a skunk [which he has done]. Great picture - he looks tired carrying all those quills.

 

I feel more comfortable being near the gentle creatures - like these ducks who came up on shore to join me for lunch at Clare Lake.

 

Yes I have seen a porcupine quill up close and I have seen a dog come back with a face full of them. [So...so...thrilled that it wasn't Reese.] The peculiar thing about the quill is that it is barbed and will continue to move into the face of the dog much like the stinger on a bee. The dog, looked a bit like a porcupine, was zapped out before the vet took out the quills.

Gnaw...I never used tomato juice [I think that might be an Ol wives tale] beside that, it would take tonnes of tomato juice. Like, he really got sprayed - his entire body reeked of the stuff. No - I use the new modern stuff - Skunk Off. It actually worked on the dog and me too. At the beginning of the camping season I purchase one bottle. I have great faith that, should it happen, I'll only need one bottle.

 

Yeah...I do seem to stand out. I hope that I'm not coming across as a know it all or something else. But I'm really enjoying the site as you can see. How often can you spend time on/with things you like?

I did dilute, in this case the whole bottle. I shampooed Reese so much that day that his fur shone like a light for days.

 

I think that you are right, Reese is just as inquisitive as ever. I thought of using tomato juice but I also thought at the time there should be something easier. If I'm in the interior I wouldn't have the luxury of a lot of tomato juice if I had any at all. My vet suggested that the product they had would be excellent - and it was. Though I would have used anything because like you said, "the smell clings" .

 

Hey...I've never thought about that - it's a good topic to research. I'll do that and get back to you.

It seems to me, for the most part, that we are both night wolves, bats maybe?

 

PART TWO [...some homework done]
Without an entire scientific study - the scent glands are similar to dog and cat anal glands. [I didn't know that.] They are located on either side of the anus and produce an oily secretion. [Oh...so that's why it clings?] The secretion contains a sulfur like compound, but to me, it smells like q very strong garlic. Not horrible, but definitely overwhelming.

Skunks are adept at using their scent glands as a weapon against predators [and playful dogs]. Spraying is not the skunks first line of defence. They engage in a series of displays to ward off potential attacks before spraying. If a skunk feels threatened, they will hiss, stamp their feet and raise their tail as warning sign. [I didn't know that and evidently neither did Reese.] A mother skunk with kits may spray offensively without warning other than the tail going up.

Once they decide to spray, the tail goes up, and the offensive secretion is sent off to its target.

Interesting stuff.