Dangerous wildlife.
Yesterday I was walking the Millenium Trail above the Campbell River. Arriving at the junction with the suspension bridge parking lot, there was a family, peering intently at the map.
So I pointed down the trail and said, “that’s the way to the suspension bridge”.
The father thanked me and said, “How do we see the cougar? Is it dangerous?”
Taken aback, I responded, “Cougar? What cougar?”
He pointed at the yellow sign: “Cougar sighted in area. August 25, 2021”.
So I told him about cougars, how in 40 years of walking, running, and hiking on the North Island I’ve seen a cougar exactly twice, once at Cape Scott, years ago, on the beach, and once more recently, near the airport. Both times they were young, and had no interest in making my acquaintance. I explained that since they have enormous hunting territories, if one had been seen two days before, it was long gone.
But that experience did trigger the obvious question: why post the sign at all?
I suspect it’s to remind visitors to the area that there are wild creatures around, so it behooves one to be careful.
When Eli (our granddog) and I walked logging roads I always carried a can of bear spray, just in case. He was a dedicated hunter, and flushed, for our mutual amusement, any number of deer, rabbits, vultures, eagles, elk, and bears, but if he ever encountered a cougar, he kept the information to himself.
Still, there are cougars in the area around Campbell River. People don't see them often, but their tracks can be seen in the mud or sand of the trails in the area, or when it snows.
So I’m bemused by occasionally meeting a person with one of those toy dogs on a long leash, walking in the bush behind the airport. “Trolling for cougars”, I suppose.
The entrances to the Beaver Lodge Lands frequently have similar warning signs posted, warning about bears.
Well, of course there are! They’re resident, and those of us who walk there regularly often see them. The last time I did, I was walking the “Butterfly” trail, near the beaver pond. A group of people was peering intently into the bush, and there he was, just ambling along. “Is he dangerous?” one of them wanted to know, so I got to fill them in from my store of co-existence information: don’t get near, avoid a mother and cubs, and don’t pick the berries if the bear wants them. That’s about it.
The City improved our park
A couple of weeks ago we got to watch a City crew at work on the little park across the road.
First they dug ditches to lay drainage pipes, presumably to solve the water collecting in the playground during our monsoon season. They removed all the sand from the playground and spread it over the grass in the park. Then they re-filled the concrete surround of the playground with chips.
It looks lovely, and when the grass starts to grow again after our unusually dry summer the grassy areas will undoubtedly be much improved.
Thing is, the neighbourhood kids have stopped frequenting the improved park. Parents still bring their little one, of course, and they climb and slide as instructed. But nobody hangs out there anymore.
Maybe it’s the sandy grass and the heat, but I think there’s more to it.
What do our own grandkids do there? Yes, they climb, and swing, and slide. But they also dig holes and throw sand and in season jump in the puddles and create water courses and get muddy.
The park is much improved, but I suspect we may have lost something.
