Beary Unusual!
For as long as I can remember, whenever we would go on road trips through the mountains my mom would encourage us to look out the window and be on wildlife patrol. She always pumped us up to believe if we looked hard enough we’d see some wild animals and if we looked even harder, and were very lucky, we would see a bear. But year after year as I kept my eyes glued looking out of the car window I don’t remember seeing one single bear on all of our trips! So this summer as we headed out on a road trip I hoped I may influence my boys off of their electronics in the same way my mom had by encouraging them to keep an eye out the car window. An added bonus for them was the summer siting of a very rare bear in the parks known to the park as Nakoda. Its looks and colouring were that of an albino grizzly; extremely rare and unusual. The rare colouring was actually a result of a natural color phase variation. This three and half year old bear was gaining huge celebrity popularity and interest because of its unusualness. It became part of the local news and roads signs and barriers were put up alongside the road to deter people from stopping and stepping out of their vehicles in hopes of catching a glimpse. Concern for Nakoda‘s well being was growing as he became more and more comfortable with his fan base which is generally never a very good ending when bears become comfortable with people. As we headed into the mountains on our summer road trip we were about two hours in when we happened upon an incredible surprise- you guessed it… Nakoda on the side of the road! It was such a special experience to observe this white grizzly in its natural environment albeit briefly, as we quickly drove past. The boys were filled with excitement and had a story to tell all of our friends. Two weeks passed and it was time to venture home; as we drove we spoke of the chances of spotting Nakoda again. Not too far from Lake Louise we could not believe our eyes when we spotted Nakoda again in the forest along the edge of another stretch of highway. How could we be twice fortunate enough to have seen such a rare grizzly in the parks when all those years I had never seen a bear of any kind?! These days news of Nakoda has completely quietened down. Then again it is winter time and as all bears do, they settle down for a long winter’s nap. Hopefully Nakoda will be out and about next spring for us to see and he will continue to be kept safe in the parks.
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