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What a great day we had with our friends Norm and Charmaine that had travelled from Quesnel to visit us in Kamloops.
Right beside the RV Park was the BC Wildlife Park. What a great park - we got to see lots of animals and got some great information as well. We attended the Bird of Prey practice show - which Jack got to be part of as well as saw the Grizzlies being fed.
The animals we got to see include various birds such as peacock, black and white swans and ducks; various birds of prey including turkey vulture, falcon, bald eagles; raccoons, badger, camel (I don`t know why), grey wolf, moose, sister and brother grizzly bears, 3 black bears, lynx and a cougar. They also have a white bear called a Kermode - in BC approximately every 10th black bear born is actually born white. It is not albino - the recessive colour gene needs to be in both parents in order for a white bear to be born. The Natives refer to them as the Spirit Bear. Unfortunately its habitat is still under construction so we were not able to see it nor could we see the Mountain Goats or Long Horn Sheep as their shelter is next to the one under construction.
At the Bird of Prey practice they asked for a volunteer and it had to be an adult. Of course Jack`s hand went up immediately. They fitted him with a glove so that he could be a falconiere. After the bird made several passes a piece of food was placed on Jack`s glove and the bird landed on his hand. It was hard to get a picture of the front of the bird as he wouldn`t turn around. Too busy eating I guess.
Jack was glad that he volunteered first as the next guy had to put a cactus costume on!
The feeding of the Grizzlies was kind of neat. The park attendant got them to go into a cage that she could close - that was pretty simple because just before noon hour when they were going to be fed they kind of went there. Guess they know the routine. The park attendant then started to hide their food so that they had to search for it. Salmon pieces in the pool, berries and fruit put in holes in a log (like a kong for dogs), apples pierced on tree branches, fruit and berries under piles of rocks. After she leaves the compound she lets the bears in and they go running to get the food - each has preferences and you can see that when they go for the food. The male went directly to the pond to get the salmon and the female went for the berries.
Besides Norm and Charmaine we had other guests for supper. Margaret and Bob from Aylen Lake dropped by on their westward trip. So much fun!
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Cliff Attwell Very good.