Radium is a small town in BC and probably
best known for the thermal hot springs on its outskirts. I like the pools here.
They are clean and in the off-season, relatively uncrowded. However, I also
like the idea that we can usually come across some of the mountain wildlife. This
past week, Lyle and I stayed in Radium for two nights and on our late afternoon
walks we saw deer and big horned mountain sheep.
I’m not sure how I would begin to describe
these animals to someone with no sight at all, but I am fortunate in that I
have partial sight. Lyle spotted the deer as we were walking past the fenced
garden area of a private home. Two deer were contentedly munching the grass and
winter shrubbery. We stood quite close to the fence so that I could see and I
was quite surprised when the nearer of the two animals gracefully bounded over
the fence almost next to me. He was so fast that I nearly missed the movement.
It’s a good thing that I have fair peripheral vision!
We saw the mountain sheep as a small herd
made their way along what seemed to be a regular route through town. I wasn’t
able to get as close to the sheep as I had done with the deer. Lyle led me to
one spot at an intersection where he took the picture that is posted with this
text. It was so interesting. The leader of the herd took the initiative in
checking out the road crossing while the rest of the animals waited on the
corner. The lead sheep almost seemed to be taking the part of a school crossing
guard! Strangely this all happened right at a pedestrian crosswalk. It was great to be so close to these animals.
I hope that those of you who live in
Alberta are also enjoying the unusually warm February weather.
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| Mountain Sheep |
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