Goodbye Churchill

     

Our last day in Churchill was a little anticlimactic, but how could it not be?  We did a helicopter ride while others in  our group went dog sledding and some people chose to do both!  

Our helicopter tour was terrific!  We were up about an hour and flew to the South Cape where we saw a "pile of bears" sleeping and still waiting for the day the ice is frozen enough that they can begin the long awaited seal hunting.

The rugged and desolate landscape was beautiful.  It was amazing to see from the air what the terrain was like.  It is a totally different perspective from going out in the Polar Rover.  You can see beautiful images in the ice terrain as it begins to freeze over.  If you ever do this trip, I highly recommend the helicopter ride.  One other item of note.  If you do this trip, make sure you have warm gloves that you have TESTED while operating a camera or phone.  My gloves were too bulky so I was always pulling them off .  If you're lucky enough to have a lengthy encounter with wildlife, you could be outside for a long time.  No one wants to give up picture taking, but when your fingers begin to turn totally numb, you're better off retreating to the warmth of the rover for a quick thaw!

The final day departure  gift, was the Polar Bear lift from the "polar bear jail".  Today was  the day they decided to relocate a mother and cub that have been in the holding facility.  Mothers and cubs jump to the top of the list to be relocated over single males.  There are two less in jail today so the current population is 12 in holding.  However, while in the helicopter, we saw a polar bear being transported to the holding facility so the number may now be 13.  The negative reinforcement of being tranquillized and locked up for a period of time is meant to discourage the bears from returning to town.  Once captured, they put a green dot on their backs for 2 reasons.  One, they want to know if someone is a repeat offender by coming back to town.  Two, the native Intuit still are allowed to hunt for food and that includes polar bears.  They want them to know that the bear has been tranquillized and has a fair amount of chemical still in his tissues.  It wouldn't be  healthy for humans to eat that meat.

We had a terrific group of 14 people that were a pleasure to be around which made the trip just that much more fun.  People were unselfish and would move away after taking some photos to allow someone else to use the prime photo spot.  Everyone was always spot on time for departures! 

The was an amazing trip for all who made the journey.  We were incredibly lucky with much of what we saw.  I'm sure no one will ever forget the cool things we learned and the amazing events we witnessed !  Thank you Fred , and Natural Habitat, for a lifetime memory!

Morning light hits the snowy, icy landscape!

Sunset as we landed in Winnipeg.

Probation day!

Yes, it was SUPER COLD!

Our trusty helicopter!

Here comes mom to be put in the cargo net.

And her cub...

Off to new location where , hopefully, they will stay out of trouble.  They are gently released about 60 miles north and yes, they stay with them until the tranquilizer begins to wear off and they're sure they're ok to be on their own.

She'll never know exactly what happened!  But I'm sure she will be happier!

We owe a debt of gratitude to Arner, our rover driver who trusted his instincts on where to take us. And of course, there's  Fred.  Our incredible teacher who has given all,of us the gift of knowledge!  I'm sure all of us will go forward and share our new knowledge with family and friends about the magnificence of the Polar Bear and his land!  Thanks guys!

A Close Encounter With Two Polar Bears

The ISo our group of 14 enthusiastic polar bear viewers were convinced that we could not top yesterday's adventure!  However, we all agreed that was incorrect!  Today was considerably colder with grey skies and blowing snow but we had spectacular new adventures with the polar bears!

Our trusty rover driver, Arner, lovingly guided our rover over the bleak and bumpy terrain to a flat area not far from the Tundra Lodge (a lodge on wheels that is brought out to a designated spot each season). We are staying in the town of Churchill in what is considerably more "luxurious " accommodations.  The Lodge on wheels has one person per tiny cubicle.  It's sort of like a short train on wheels.  At any rate, we spotted a lone bear just relaxing on the side of our "trail" path.  Arner got us fairly close and we just kept watching this male.  Suddenly, the male bear  got up and began walking toward our rover.  Oh my gosh, he was right next to us! The Rover has a back wire mesh deck that we can stand on to take photos.  This bear was SO interested in our rover.  He even walked directly under our feet on the back deck of the rover.  If it were allowed, we could have reached down and touched his fur.  (Definitely not allowed though). While this first guy was checking us out, low and behold, here comes his friend!  He was curious to see what we were all about.  There was some thought that they may have picked up the scent of our  onboard latrine, even though it is totally encased.  But for whatever reason, after a brief nose to nose greeting, these two males gave us a thorough once over!  I wonder what they thought of the thousand of clicking noises they heard from our cameras!  But not only did the two bears spend a great deal of time under and next to our rover, when they finally decided to leave, they gave us an amazing show of "Play sparring" for a long time.  They go nose to nose as they walk until both males suddenly rear up on their hind legs and begin a series of bear wrestling moves each trying to get the other guy down!  This was done out of boredom and was totally play.  However, it does give them practice for when it becomes more serious during the mating season!  We watched this show for a couple of hours while we had lunch!

As we moved a little further on, we came upon a mother with two cubs.  Suddenly, a big male wandered into the area.  As soon as mom saw him , she and the cubs took off running!  Although unusual, if a male is hungry enough he can be a threat to the cubs.  Hence the reason mom scurries away.  Just last week, a male attacked one of two cubs and killed it.  Mom took off with the other cub.  

Fred told us how rare it was for TWO bears to come up so close to the Rover.  It was the first time it has happened this season.  It was also quite unusual to see the lengthy sparring of the two males.  It's unusual because they are usually so hungry at this time of year that they won't expend the energy or the calories.

Those were two AMAZING highlights of the day.  We had a wonderful dinner at the famous Gypsy's back in Churchill.  Tomorrow we have a helicopter tour if the winds calm down.  (Today there were guests of 40mph).  We will board our charter at 2:00pm for the flight back to Winnipeg.... 

What a phenomenal trip this has been.  We were incredibly lucky with everything!  Animal sightings, animal behavior, great educational guide and a terrific rover driver made everything just perfect.  Could not have asked for anything more!

Directly under our feet!  WOW!

I could have touched him!

So curious!

Mom and 2 cubs who took off running when male appeared.

Sparring 

He was a thoroughly curious bear!

The bleak landscape...

Amazing Day of Wildlife!

IWhat an amazing day out in the Rover!  We saw sixteen bears and a rare sighting of an arctic Fox hunting lemmings and "vols"--(think mouse).  The Fox was very busy running and digging and as he caught and killed his prey, he then went over and buried it.  He had eaten his fill and was doing what they refer to as "cacheing". He was saving it for harder times this winter!  We saw him do this at least for times.  It was the first Arctic Fox our guide has seen this year!

 The early morning started out with finding a very old and thin bear.  As he walked , you could see the bones on his back and see his skin flapping.  All bears are thin this time of year because they really haven't eaten since July when the ice disappears and seal hunting is over.  They can eat up to 150 pounds at one sitting.  They put on as much fat as they can from capturing the seals.  The live off the fat in the summer.  Females mate in March or April, but they don't make a den until August.  There are many more males then females so the competition is fierce during the  mating season.  A male bear must be at least eight years old before he can mate.  Females can mate at age six.  They have recently discovered that when females are "in season" they have "scent pads" on their feet which will leave a trail of pheromones for her male "suitors "!  When more then one male shows up, this ensues with a battle to win  the ladies "paw"! The loser slinks away for another day.  Females may mate  with several different males and she can have cubs with multiple fathers,  While a blastocyst is formed and divides a couple of times, it won't implant until August when she'll make her den and not reappear until her cubs are just a little smaller then mom.  She needs the extra time from March until August to put on as much weight as she can since she won't be eating for 6 months and she has to nurse the cubs after they're born.  The cubs will be with her for the next two and a half years. After that she will breed again.

Though we saw lots of bears, their activity level was low because it is so warm.  They're preserving their energy .  So, when we saw a group of four young males and two of them were "play" sparring, it was unusual since most are lying low to save their energy.

We also found a mom and cub.  Sometimes the number of cubs is determined by how successful a hunter mom was. If she doesn't gain enough weight to support two or three cubs, her body will only implant one.  The little guy was adorable!  They were digging in the dirt and eating the lichens.

  Next came a younger solitary male. He actually walked in front of our parked rover.  The bears are normally solitary except for this time of the year when they come together in Churchill to go out on the ice when it forms (which is really late this year)!  Bears can be seen drinking water at this time of year, but during hunting season they get all the water they need from the seals they eat.  The bears have extremely strong jaws which are needed if they are 

pulling up to a thousand pound seal out of the water.  The bears will patiently wait above a seal breathing hole to get their prize.  They pounce as soon as the seal pops his head up!

Today was such a beautiful sunny day we were hoping the skies would stay clear tonight so we'd have a chance to see the Northern Lights.  The Lights weren't particularly strong,  but you could definitely see them!  So beautiful!  Although Churchill gets a view of  the Northern Lights about 200 days a year, November is not one of those months.  It is still warm enough that there is almost always a cloud cover!  We got very lucky!  The photos I got were with a handheld camera and to really get a good shot, you need a tripod.

Before dinner at the Tundra Lodge, we had a very interesting speaker!  She is an elderly woman who is part Cree Indian and part  Scottish.  She calls herself a "storyteller" and even she doesn't know what she's going to talk about until she begins.  She is a member of the Metis nation of people.  She is the daughter of a fur trapper and has done a lot in the last decade to recreate some of the lost arts of the Cree nation.  She has taught lots of people these "lost" arts so they will be passed on, hopefully, to future generations.  She was awarded a very high medal from the government for her work in the preservation of these art techniques.  I don't think today could have been any better!  

Our guide , Fred, is really an awesome teacher.  I wish I could : 1. Remember everything he tells us and 2. Had  the time to write it all down.  I try to give you the highlights that I've found interesting.  But, it's like being in a classroom for 8 hours and trying to write down everything thing you were taught and you only have an hour!  Trust me when I tell you there are so many fascinating things to learn about the wildlife and the geology of this area. 

Some of the photos will  give you the sense of the harshness of the landscape as winter nears.  What's harsh for most species is a vacation wonderland for polar bears.  They are suitably adapted for their environment!  The bears stay warm because of the amount of fat they 

consume.  The Arctic Fox has a different  method and stays warm with a very high metabolism! 

They must constantly eat to keep their metabolism revved up. So many cool things ( no pun intended) happen every day out on the Tundra!

Stay tuned for day two on the Tundra!  

Mom and cub.

Sunset....

Moon rise..

The "story teller".

Her awards from the government.

Vaguely see the green Northern Lights in background.

Northern Lights...