Too quick for me tonight M'dear .....................
I spose it does read like that doesn't it. !!!

Thanks for the replies.

Its just there is a forest directly behind the house we are buying and currently there is no fence round our garden and I have a 3 year old! Was just wondering what we should expect.

Wheres the house Sarah?
Spruce Grove? Stoney Plain? out in the sticks ?
How you liking it so far BTW ?

Luvin it so far although still early days!! We have both sorted cars today so happy about that.
The house is in Wabamun which is a lil further out from stony plain, wabamun lake and provincial park is there, and it is just forest behind our house.

Sounds lovely. Good for you guys. I remember you said you wanted semi-rural living and you got it. That's great. A lot closer to Jasper from that end of the city too. Takes us half an hour + just to cross from Sh Pk to Stoney. !

I think if it were me, I'd want to put a fence around that garden, or make sure my 3 yr old were not playing out there alone.

I expect the risk of being attacked by a coyote or even a bear would be really small, but not one I'd wish to contemplate personally. There was a recent incident of a boy being attacked by coyotes, but I think he was on a reserve somewhere, so probably more rural ..... However, coyotes frequent the city here even in Calgary, like urban foxes.

I just found stories of attacks in Edmonton on Google:

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&rl...G=Search&meta=

edit: my mistake.... the boy who was killed on the reserve was attacked by a pack of starving dogs!

further edit: Not wishing to scare-monger .... I'm sure the risk is pretty small and attacks are unusual .... but I'd still invest in a fenced off play area if I had a small child!

I would expect that your area would have both coyotes and black bears. The bear density would be rather low, but you will have the odd one pass through that area. You should see deer, especially whitetails, but you may also have mule deer and perhaps the odd moose. No elk or wolves though.

You can see you are near the edge of the black bear range in Alberta:

http://www.cd.gov.ab.ca/enjoying_alb...20brochure.pdf

Thanks for that! Yeah I will deffinately be getting the back garden fenced, as there is not only the risk of wild animals but also running off and getting lost in the forest that would worry me!! I also have another on the way, so will deffinately be fencing it off!

I would suggest that you drop into you local Alberta Conservation office, and talk to an officer (or a game warden) about your concerns and ask them about bears and coyotes in your area.

I want you to understand that is it very, very rare for a coyote or a black bear to be aggressive toward a human.... they normally freak out and run away when they see or smell a human in the area.

Either you are a very small person, or those are very big sardines in that photo.

LOL.... the fish in the first photo are yellowtails... the other photo shows a striped marlin.... and I weigh 205 pounds +.

You lucky things......we had our winter camp last year at Wabamun....it's beautiful there!!!!

Linda

Nice photo; I almost forgot what snow looked like.

I can't remember what the sea looks like!!!!!

Linda

Shingle beach, stinky seaweed ...... I can't say I miss our particular brand of sea!