Hooray for BC and the fuzzy things that live there! I’ve seen a larger variety of large animals in twelve hours of hitchhiking than I have in any other place except a zoo.
Early in the morning, I was picked up by A----- and F-----, a newlywed and her sister-in-law driving moving a truck and trailer’s worth of tools and life from Montana to Alaska. Also present was a Chihuahua named Moose, a feisty little dog who shared the car with me for two full days and still considered me a suspicious character. Granted, he also growled any time construction workers came over to say how long we’d be waiting at a segment of single-lane highway, or when F----- passed anything to someone else. He was a great little guard dog, and a beautiful one at that.
As I ran up the road to where they’d stopped, I saw my first three animals of the day: a black bear and her two cubs. I’d actually seen them an hour or so before hand, running across the road in the other direction. Apparently the grass is consistently greener on the other side of the road. Wish I’d caught a picture of them…or of the two other bears I saw later on in the day. I’ll note that these were the reason I didn’t camp out the night before: I don’t exactly have a good bear protection system in place right now. Tie a bag with some food up in a tree, but a dozen feet of rope doesn’t go too far.
Mountain goats were next on the agenda: after a stop for road repair, we passed a herd hanging out on the road. Barely enough time to snap a shot of the last few.
An Elk made an appearance later on in the day. Dangerous animals for cars: unlike a deer, you’re generally not going to kill it on impact. Because of its height, it’ll get knocked into your windshield, where it’ll flail around in your lap in a panic. Pay attention to the signs all around the highway.
Finally, the first wild bison I’ve ever seen. A whole herd of them had taken over the road and cuts on either side, dozens of massive animals with just as many calves. Perhaps a hundred in total? Crazy, crazy animals. Seeing a half dozen in a zoo doesn’t do them justice, and I imagine even this group didn’t do the herds of the old great plains justice. F----- taught both A----- and I an important lesson about bison: don’t stop for them. Go slow, drive through, and get away as soon as you can. Stopping makes them nervous, and nervous bison attack cars. And considering they’re as big as a car, they can do a heck of a lot of damage.
This took care of most the animals I was hoping to see on this trip. It’s been so incredible to see so much in such a short period of time! Now I just need to find a moose, bald eagle, and a big ‘ol grizzly!
Trip Stats:
Total Distance: 600 miles
Total Time: ~12 hours
# of Rides: 1
Total Cost: $0.00
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