Tragedy

(July 27th) I like to keep this blog full of photos and the stories behind this, but let me make an important plea to anyone who reads this. If you are driving in a national park or other area abundant with wildlife, please, please, drive slowly. The animals in these areas are often quite tame and automobile accidents are a severe and unnecessary cause of mortality. There is a large road that runs through Jasper where I had noticed for the last few days which people drive uncomfortably fast on considering how the often wildlife crosses the road or stays quite near it. I began my last morning by driving out from near my campsite and seeing a body on the side of the road. Sometime very late at night or early in the morning, a coyote pup had been hit and killed. This poor guy had only made it through the first couple of months of his life. I just hope that we can prevent as many needless deaths as possible and protect our natural treasures - they really are amazing.

It the last of my time in Jasper and I still felt like I had so much left I wanted to do. I quickly found a heard of elk cows and calves. Like most deer, the calves have rows of spots on ther backs. The early light was great to bring out some of the rich color in the elk. After the elk finished their feeding they moved on into higher elevation and tree cover.

I decided to try a trail that went up into pretty high elevation. It was supposed to be a great place to find Bighorn Sheep rams. It was a long walk, but no Bighorn Sheep. I saw a few birds, but nothing photographable. The scenery was fantastic, but I had only brought my wildlife lenses. On the way down, I ran into a super-curious Red Squirrel. He chattered away and came within a couple feet of me. Red Squirrels are probably my favorite tree squirrels.

Next I was in for a total treat. While driving I saw the unmistakable shape of a coyote far in a field. So I did a u-turn to position the window in the right direction and walked. This coyote was so close to the one I had seen hit earlier that I wonder if they were siblings. Another photographer was there in his car, so I didn't leave my car for fear of flushing the coyote. The coyote was a pup and it was hunting something in the field. In fact, it was non-stop pouncing on something. I had no idea what - mice and voles would hide after the first time, so what could it be hunting over and over again. Eventually the other photographer drove out and it was my chance to get out of the car. As soon as I entered the field it was obvious, there were grasshoppers everywhere. The young coyote was too young to hunt mammals yet, so it was getting practice and a meal from the grasshoppers. With slowly approaching, I was able to get fairly close to the little pup as it was busy hunting. It was a total blast to watch this pup pounce on the grasshoppers over and over again.

I had to stop for a killer reflection in front of one of the mountains. Further along there was another great reflection, this time of the trees with a beaver lodge in the water. Everytwhere you go in Jasper you just turn your head and see a great view. I still have a lot of improvement to make on landscape shots, but this was the first trip that I was somewhat pleased with my landscape shots. Even though you may see a gorgeous view, it still takes some time and work to make a good shot from it.

I had seen so much in the morning already, but I wanted to squeeze out the last little bit before I had to drive out. I stopped at the spot for pika, still early enough in the morning that there wouldn't be anyone else there. Without no one else around, the pika were completely at ease with me. One ate a flower a couple of inches from my foot. Tons of great behavior from these little guys. One of my favorites was this pika who was carrying food back to its nest - just look at the size of the grass in its jaws!