wildlife Archives | Carol Patterson

Ivvavik National Park

July 20, 2019 by CarolPatterson Leave a Comment

You might not be able to pronounce it or may never have heard of it, but Ivvavik National Park should be on your bucket list if you like nature and outdoor adventure. Tucked into the northwest corner of Canada’s Yukon territory the park is bordered by Alaska on the west and the Beaufort Sea on the north.

Why Should You Go?

For the hiking, the cultural programs and the wildlife. To learn more, listen to my interview with Randy Sharman on The Informed Traveler from July 28.

Hiking Inspiration Point will leave you feeling inspired

Will you see caribou?

Maybe. They aren’t usually near base camp in great numbers while visitors are around but as I discovered, caribou are unpredictable.

My video of Caribou galore is what it looks like when tens of thousands wander by.

Will you be comfortable?

Yup. Parks Canada offers a glamping experience at its base camp. You bring your sleeping bag, they provide the tent, heater and warm showers. Food is tasty and prepared for you. Book in early June for best chance of seeing caribou, late June for green slopes and wildflowers.

Ivvavik base camp offers comfortable prospector tents

How do you get there?

To get there you need to get yourself to Inuvik (First Air and Air North offer departures from Vancouver and Edmonton) and then Parks Canada flies you into the Imniarvik base camp for a comfortable arctic clamping experience.

Sheep in the Village

November 13, 2017 by CarolPatterson Leave a Comment

Residents of British Columbia’s Village of Radium Hot Springs are bragging about their status as the easiest place in the world to see head-banging bighorn sheep each fall. Read more in my latest story for Roadstories.ca here

Why is it never a good idea to do a selfie with bighorn sheep?

Watch their headbanging rituals here

The Radium herd enjoy the grass and ability to see long distances on golf courses

West Coast Whale Watching

May 15, 2017 by CarolPatterson Leave a Comment

A day on the water with Jim Borrowman is like sitting in the forest with Jane Goodall. Jim has been watching whales for over three decades – he launched whale watching on Canada’s west coast – and seems to sense where whales will show up or what they will do next. Standing next to Borrowman on the bridge, I slap on a wool headband as the wind blows over Johnstone Strait chilling my ears.

Even in August the nutrient-rich waters off North Vancouver Island are cool. We chugged out of Telegraph Cove hours earlier with heavy fog making it impossible to see whales on the horizon. Borrowman stops every few minutes, turning off the engines while we strain to hear the distinctive blow of a whale. Read more

Killer whales appear from the mist in Blackstone Strait
All pictures by Carol Patterson

Want to see a killer whale? @stubbsisland will get you there @hellobcClick to Tweet

Stubbs Island Whale Watching was the first whale watching company on Canada’s west coast.

You don’t have to take a big boat to see whales in Johnstone Strait.

Kayakers get a thrill as orcas pass near them.

Can I sleep near the whales?

Telegraph Cove offers a unique west coast experience. Visitors can dine, shop and sleep in restored buildings perched over the cold waters of the Inside Passage. Look for bears foraging under the boardwalk in early morning or spot large jellyfish in the clear waters near the boat dock.

To book a room in one of the buildings off the boardwalk contact Telegraph Cove Resort

Telegraph Cove is one of the few remaining west coast boardwalk communities.
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Jim Borrowman does a safety briefing before heading to sea.

Okay, I’m convinced. Where the heck is Telegraph Cove?

Telegraph Cove is a three-hour drive north of Comox airport on Vancouver Island. Keep your eyes peeled along the way for wildlife including cougars (some of the highest densities of cougar in the world are found here).

Is that whale my mother?

Killer whales live in matrilines – family groups lead by a mother or grandmother. Males and females stay with their mothers their whole life (breeding happens when groups of matrilines come together each year).

Guides can identify many whales by their saddle patch (the white marking at the base of the dorsal fin) but on your first whale watching trip, it can be hard to understand all the relationships.

Did you know male orcas are mother's boys?

Take time to visit the Whale Interpretative Centre and check out the ‘family tree’ for the whales you might see on the water. The visual picture makes it easier to see who’s related to who.

Stop for lunch post-tour at the Seahorse Café and try the Baja fish tacos. You can enjoy this view while watching for orcas swimming past the cove.

Want to be a prairie dog scientist on your vacation?

March 8, 2017 by CarolPatterson Leave a Comment

When Tara Stephens, Calgary Zoo Conservation Population Ecologist, offered me a pair of snake guards – leg protection from rattlesnake bites – and explained precautions needed to avoid the plague – yes, that plague – I wondered if I shouldn’t be writing about spas instead of nature tours in Saskatchewan’s Grasslands National Park. But each summer Parks Canada and the Calgary Zoological Society offer a few intrepid travellers the chance to be a prairie dog researcher and I wanted to see if I had the chops to be a squirrel scientist, even temporarily.

What do whales & free beer have in common?

September 21, 2016 by CarolPatterson Leave a Comment

What do whales and free beer have in common?

I think matriarch orcas use the equivalent of a ‘free beer’ call to turn a few dozen whales on a dime. I learned this and so much more on a recent Vancouver Island trip where we had 5 fabulooooooose days on the water with whale watching pioneer Jim Borrowman.

If you have five minutes today enjoy them on the water(virtually) with this video:)

Happy fall!
Carol