This morning was an early start at 6:00 A.M. I enjoy starting this early in the morning so that I can beat the heat (and smoke from local wildfires!). As I pulled in to the office I was greeted by this handsome buck.
Today was a day for doing block walkthroughs. These consist of driving to various blocks to assess overall tree growth, vigour, potential mortality, etc. Generally to check on our stands and see if there’s anything we should be aware of, and to see if it is nearing Free Growing. These are blocks that would have been planted a number of years ago and in some cases, like today, the roads would no longer be entirely drivable, so you get to take an ATV!
I had quite a long drive to the blocks I was working in that day, so I loaded up a good audiobook and was on my way. When I got to a nice area to unload my ATV I geared up and started having a look around. Some things I always have with me in the bush are bear spray, PPE, my radio, an in-reach if I am not in service, my planting shovel and plot cord, lots of water, and some snacks just in case. If I am leaving my truck for extended periods like today, I bring my survival kit, because you never know.
This first block was a Lodgepole Pine dominated stand with lots of Fireweed (A bright purple flower that loves disturbance) as is the case with many of my blocks throughout the summer. This pine was doing well, and there were no forest health concerns or other things to note.
After visiting another block similar to the last I decided it was time to have some lunch.
Afterwards, I visited a block that was about 100 hectares in size. It took some time to navigate as the roads were deactivated and there was lots of debris. I usually drive to the back of a block and work my way to the front, so that’s what I did here. I parked my quad and was sitting preparing my notes before I walked into the trees when I started hearing movement not far from where I was parked. I looked around and couldn’t see anything, then I yelled “HEY BEAR!” just in case, generally if a bear was there my yelling would make it leave, but the movement stopped so went back to what I was doing, still being aware of my surroundings and not leaving my quad just yet. A minute later I heard movement again and in an alder shrub about 10 meters away from me I could see round black ears poking up. This bear really didn’t seem to be afraid of me or care that I was there, I took the hint and got out of there right away. I would have liked a picture of him for this blog but when you are in a situation where you are faced with a bear, no matter how safe you feel, assessing the bears behaviour and leaving should be your priority, not taking photos!
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