A not so little visitor strolling past our window this evening











Sorry about picture quality, they are taken from video.

My hubby will be ecstatic to see that! He's obsessed by bears in Canada and whether we will be able to see them all the time once we move there. I keep telling him they don't hang out on the prairies much!! lol (we're moving to a small town NE of Calgary.) Of course, once he sees these, he's going to want to move to Canmore!

Fab pics is that in Canmore ?

maybe he wanted to play got to agree they are magnificent but would hate to meet one when out, did you get any warning or anything ?

sorry, just posted under hubby's log on by mistake!!

they are amazing pics, I think I would be glad to be behind the safety of my window to see these wonderful animals so close , you have to admire them though.

OMG

I am seriously nevous about bears and even more nervous about cougars.

A freind of mine moved to Calgary from Banff about a year ago and she tells me allsorts of stories. SHe never let her little boy into the garden alone.

The result of all is I am petrified.

Gryph

I am going to have an area railed off outside around the back door so little man can play and a run for the dogs, cougars are more of a threat i think ?

They don't bother you if you don't bother them. There's nothing to be afraid of, really. If I lived in the area, I would have a large fence, but otherwise as long as you realize they are wild animals and treat them with respect, it's not an issue. They will not attack you for no reason. We had a cougar living in the valley that runs through my hometown of 600 people on the prairies. She was there for the whole summer and nobody was too bothered. You just had to be cautious when walking in the valley that you didn't go into any treed areas or underbrush and stayed in the open on the paths.

I am more bothered about our little boy and the dogs,
I saw a documentary where 2 hunters were killed in Canada by bears, something to do with the berries being in short supply, In the same program some people were in there hot tub and heard a noise got out next thing you know is they are filming a very large bear in the garden heading for the rubbish bin via the hot tub

I know there are cases where dogs have been taken, last year wasn't it coyotes that attacked some children in the middle of lots of people
I agree you need to be aware and respect there habitat.

Cougars do attack periodically and they have in the past killed an adult cross country skier near banff (lake Minnewealllaughalot). Cougars would have no problem taking out little children. They don't attack for no reason. They stalk quietly and attack for a meal.

Yes, if you are hiking in the woods and are not making enough noise and you surprise a bear, they may attack in self-defense. A cougar will not make a "meal" out of a human. They don't naturally eat human flesh, and will only attack if they feel threatened, ie. if you surprise them or trespass too close to their den. Of course they can take out a little child, so can a dog. Doesn't mean they will.

It's about respect of their habitat and way of life. The more we humans insist on building in their habitats and taking away their hunting grounds, the more problems we are going to have.

Going to have to use that name now .....

Great pictures Solarfish ...

Cougars do take out humans. They stalk and attack. The girl in Banff was attcked from behind 300m from the parking lot, with a bite to the neck. This seems to be their MO, get attacked by a cougar and avoid the neck bite- you may survive. there are many incidences of cougars attacking humans and children!

The problem in Banff/ Canmore etc are the increasing herds of elk are bringing the cougars in, who may then see a meal more easily elsewhere, particuallry if old etc.

BEars can be pretty dangerous, particularly to joggers, bikers etc.

I agree- give them the respect they deserve.

Wonderful photo's, the bear looks like he's on a mission Is it mating season or something

Glad you all enjoyed the pictures. I have actually put a video up now. Please go to the link and then you will see a file called 'If you go down to the woods today.wmv', you should 'save target as' from there rather than trying to stream it if you want to see it.

Yes it is in Canmore, Three Sisters Mountain Village to be precise which is a new community built up the side of one of the Three Sisters Mountains, so were are right in the wildlife corridor. So far we have seen coyotes (one took one of our cats), herds of Elk and now this guy all right outside the house. There was no warning, he just walked out of the trees behind our property right by the kids playground and then across the street.

The kids were cycling around that little park about 2 hours before the bear arrived! But as others have said, attacks are exceptionally rare and only occur when the animal is surprised or cornered. Cougars do occasionally track humans, it happened up at the ski hill earlier this year when two were spotted coming down either side of some maintenance guys who quickly jumped into their vehicle. But I was certainly more excited than worried about this encounter.

Where we are the houses have been built right into the forest and there is very little landscaping, any addition such as fences would not be permitted.

Yes this was also Canmore, we had three coyote attacks on children before Christmas, very rare and they were 'rogue' animals that were quickly found and shot. But it just means you have to be more aware, we chose to live here for the surroundings afterall.

Banff is trying to keep the Elk to the northern side of the highway with fencing so that the cougars will reduce the herd a bit, but the Elk broke through the fencing so that isn't working so well.

A jogger was killed by a bear in Canmore in 2005 in the Silvertip area, near the golf course. I suspect though I would be in far more danger of keeling over through lack of fitness if I attempted jogging than being attacked by a bear!

In the video you can see he is just plodding slowly across the street. He is headed up the mountain but I didn't bother to go out and check if he was feeling frisky

Loved the video