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Carol Patterson

INSPIRING EVERYDAY EXPLORERS Through wildlife tales and trails

Carol Patterson

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110 Canadian Nature Hot Spots you might have overlooked

May 14, 2019 by CarolPatterson Leave a Comment

Canadian Nature

Ask a travel writer to identify their favorite travel destination and many will describe azure-blue waters of a tropical beach, but two of Canada’s best travel writers, Jenn Smith Nelson and Doug O’Neill, make the case for a pair of oft-overlooked provinces in their new book, 110 Nature Hot Spots in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

With inspiring quotes (John Muir’s“Keep close to Nature’s Heart”) and vivid photos that will have you saying, “That’s in Canada?”, this book gives you a reason to visit Canada’s center. Smith Nelson and O’Neill pepper the pages with surprising facts (Saskatchewan has the world’s most northerly sand dunes), reasons they recommend a visit (60,000 beluga whales in Churchill), access methods, and facilities.

How well do you know Canadian geography?

If you’ve visited Canada’s prairies and limited your stops to Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park or Riding Mountain National Park, you’ll be drawn to names like Wildcat Hill Provincial Park, Creighton Limestone Crevices, or Caribou River Provincial Wilderness Park.

You might be surprised to discover there’s a marl lake called “Manitoba’s Caribbean” because of the blue colour or that there’s a preponderance of wolverines near the Manitoba/Ontario border in Opasquia Provincial Park. With 110 places, many of them undiscovered by tourists, you’ll have new reasons to visit Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

So many choices, so little time

The biggest problem with this book is the abundance of information. After reading several sections, I realized I was twenty years too old to have enough vacation time left to see everything described. Fortunately, Smith Nelson and O’Neill have added special interest sections grouped by activity. For Manitoba, sites that appeal to birdwatchers, hikers, paddlers and waterfall aficionados are listed together. The Saskatchewan special interest pages highlight spaces with bird watching, common and unique animal species, paddling, sky viewing and waterfalls offering a quick way to zero in on possible destinations.

Where to read more

If you’re ready to explore some of Canada’s lesser-known wild places 110 Nature Hot Spots in Manitoba and Saskatchewan is published by Firefly Books www.fireflybooks.com Its also available on Amazon.ca or at your favorite bookstore.

Tweetables

110 Canadian Nature Hot Spots you might have overlooked – Click to Tweet.

Discover why two of Canada’s best travel writers, @JennSmithNelson & @DougONeill are making a case to travel @Saskatchewan & @TravelManitoba – Click to Tweet.

Filed Under: Interesting People Tagged With: Canadian Nature, Manitoba, Saskatchewan

What does your mother know about bison?

February 14, 2017 by CarolPatterson 1 Comment

Nothing, if your family is like mine. But in the open grasslands of southwestern Saskatchewan, Don Gillespie’s mother Norah mastered low-stress animal handling techniques. She never worked bison, her ranch had cows and horses but the skill she developed helps today with bison conservation.

Don Gillespie took lessons he learned from Norah into his work with bison at Grasslands National Park.

Bison roam free in Grasslands National Park

How do you get bison to walk 9 miles with nothing but your mother's wisdom?Click to Tweet Find out in my recent story in Earth Island Journal This Land Was Built for Bison

I didn’t get the chance to see Don Gillespie work with bison but seeing the care used to design the bison handling facility, it was obvious he knows the big animals well.

Don Gillespie explains how facility design reduces bison stress
Stringing them out…..taking advantage of their instinct to follow one another and remain in a herd. Photo: Don Gillespie
Telling everyone how tough he is. Photo:Don Gillespie
The female leader of a family group is getting ready to move. Photo: Don Gillespie

If you would like to see the bison at Grasslands National Park, book your stay in advance as campsites book up quickly and there are few hotels. A visit here is worth the effort. The prairies are an understated environment if you are used to mountain vistas or ocean swells, but it has a beauty that charms if you slow down to listen.Check out details here.

What did you learn from your mother? I’d love to hear.

Filed Under: Saskatchewan Tagged With: bison, grasslands national park, Saskatchewan

Rodents A Flagship Species?

May 14, 2014 by CarolPatterson Leave a Comment

prairie dogsMe either! I only realized how important Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs are when I met John Laux of Nebraska Game and Parks Commission while on a media trip. These little creatures build towns of linked tunnels – the largest town ever found covered 65,000 square kilometers! Early explorer Capt. Lewis described them as “barking squirrels”, while Clark called them a “ground rat”. They caught and ate one of the prairie sentinels, but it never became a diet staple. When Lewis and Clark ordered their men to flush out more rodents with water, the men hauled water all day and succeeded in catching only one prairie dog – it was put in a cage and made a pet!
The burrows and tunnels of prairie dogs provide homes for burrowing owls, black-footed ferrets and snakes, among others. It is estimated that over 150 species of plants and animals benefit from prairie dog activity earning them flagship species status. So now you know that a prairie dog’s presence or absence dramatically alters an ecosystem! To see a prairie dog town look along the roadsides in Harlan, Nebraska www.harlantourism.org. Canada’s only prairie dogs are found in Grasslands National Park in southern Saskatchewan http://bit.ly/RvTAsU

TWEETABLES

Discover the importance of Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs via @Reinventure. Click to Tweet.

Rodents A Flagship Species? It’s true! Find out more via @Reinventure. Click to Tweet.

This rodent positively impacts over 150 species of plans and animals. Can you guess which rodent it is? Click to Tweet.

Filed Under: Saskatchewan Tagged With: black-tailed prairie dogs, grasslands national park, prairie dog, rodents, Saskatchewan

Retro RV Reinvents Camping

August 13, 2013 by CarolPatterson Leave a Comment

travel trailerWhen I was young you had to suffer to camp. Canvas tents leaked if you touched them when wet, air mattresses deflated overnight, and supper was whatever you could cook over a smoky fire in the rain. Things improved with the invention of Gore-Tex and affordable recreational vehicles (RVs), but it can be a hassle to pull a RV and wrestle it into a camping site. A creative-thinking entrepreneur, Darci Schepansky, has reinvented the camping experience by delivering rental RVs to any campground in the Waskesiu region of northern Saskatchewan.
Darci and her team will have the RV parked, wood stacked by the fire pit, a tablecloth on the kayakpicnic table, and flowers by the door before you arrive. You don’t need to buy an RV, own a large vehicle or worry about parking. Explaining her motivation for starting Retro RV, Darci says, “I wanted a business that would let me spend time with my kids.” Her kids enjoy visiting provincial parks while Mom makes money. As the name implies, some of the rental units are vintage, but there is nothing old-fashioned about this recreational reinvention! To learn more go to www.retrorv.com

TWEETABLES

Discover how you can go camping in a trailer without the hassle or hauling the trailer yourself here. Click to Tweet.

Retro RV is Reinventing the Way We Camp. Learn more: Click to Tweet.

This entrepreneur has completely changed the way we camp with her creative-thinking. Find out more. Click to Tweet.

Filed Under: Saskatchewan Tagged With: Darci Schepansky, recreation, recreational reinvention, reinventure, retro rv, Saskatchewan, Waskesiu

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