Wolf

Wolf, a photo by susanvg on Flickr.

The temperatures had warmed up a bit and the sun's rays felt warm. A number of animals at the Ecomusée were enjoying an afternoon nap in the sunshine. While this wolf was semi-alert, his pal was sprawled on the snow soaking up the rays.

The river otters found the sunny spot in their enclosure - out of the water and off the snow. While one slept, the other groomed itself and tried to rouse his sleeping friend. I think the sun won, finally making it lazy, too.



The fisher was very active, pacing in one area, then scampering on the rocks and climbing to the top. It found its stash of food and dug in then raced around some more.

There are a number of other mammals. It's interesting to see them - it's too bad they can't live the rest of their lives in the wild. In most cases of the animals here, it is through human intervention (mother was killed, animal was injured, animal was born in captivity) that they have lost the ability to survive in the wild.

Snowy Owl

Snowy Owl, a photo by susanvg on Flickr.

I spent the afternoon at the Ecomuseum Zoo with a friend (a fellow photographer). The animals there are all representative of animals that live in  We were greeted by the snowy owls. I learned that adult males become pure white as they get older. It is the juveniles and females that have markings.



As they are used to living in the tundra, they don't need branches for perching.

All the animals in the Ecomuseum were either born in captivity or they were injured and could not be released into the wild. They do a lot of school visits, bringing some of the animals to talk to children about them.



This Great Horned Owl was one of the birds of prey included in a talk on these animals. The zoologist who presented the animals was an expert with children, keeping them interested, amused and informed.



Here's another view of this magnificent bird.

More on the Ecomuseum trip in another post...