The Flora & Fauna of the Maligne Valley

As an addendum, I would like to introduce you to some of the flowers and animals we saw today. I felt the previous section was already too long, so have added this piece.
The flora around Maligne Lake was subtle and beautiful as you will see. It is the time for wild flowers so I will be keeping my eye out for more, particularly in the Alpine Meadows.
The photos will tell the story.
Of course there is wildlife galore in the Rockies, some sweet and harmless, others less so.
Our guide gave us a long lecture on what to do if meeting a bear round the corner - heaven forbid! The précis of it all was if it’s a Grizzly play dead and it ‘should lose interest’. I was rather perturbed by the ‘should’! If it’s a black bear you’ll have to fight for your life if you can’t retreat, because it will kill and eat you. Hit it on the nose seemed to be the preferred strategy. I’d have died of fright first, so possibly not necessary.
On our way back we came across an osprey and it’s nest, two mountain sheep traversing an unbelievably steep rock face, an elk resting in the undergrowth (no photo sorry), and finally a black bear foraging by the side of the road. How lucky were we?
Our guide on the Mary Schaffer told a fantastic story of Mike, the wildlife warden, in these parts, whose job it is to keep,an eye on the animal population, in particular the bears. He watches them by powerful telescope high up in the meadows and was worried to see a Grizzly laying on its front, day after day. In the end, he decided he would have to investigate and made his way up there. To his astonishment the bear was happily laying on the carcass of a dead elk, feasting and sleeping continuously, obviously protecting his food supply by laying on it!! He knows most of the bears individually and when this individual woke from hibernation the following spring, he arranged to weigh him. After hibernation, when a bear will lose one third of its body weight, he still weighed 700lbs! I asked Nick how on earth you weigh a Grizzly? ‘ Ah’ he said, ‘it’s complicated and basically involves a block and tackle and a helicopter’ The mind boggles!
Enjoy the photos.

My phrase of the Day for you all:-

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