Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: explore2014May22

These little Columbian Ground Squirrels are seen only in the mountains, not in the city. Photographed this one when friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, had a quick stop on 15 May 2014. Saw quite a few of them during our two-day trip through the Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary. I always think of these animals eating grass and plants, so I found the following information interesting. "Diet includes a wide variety of vegetation: roots, bulbs, stems, leaves, seeds, and berries. Also eats some animal food (e.g., insects, mice, dead fish). May climb into trees and shrubs to obtain buds and fruits. Spends about 70% of year in hibernation." www.iucnredlist.org/details/42466/0

Black Bears have such beautiful, shiny black fur, and we got to see this one pretty closely. The first thing I'll add here is to say that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people, ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see show no interest in us and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. They just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. Daytime temperatures the last two days were much warmer than we've had in about eight months. The sun shone and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair towards the bear, too, as it's always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was happy as can be, as always, to see absolutely anything beautiful : )