Animal Narratives

Banon:
Canadian Wild Animals: Mountain Sheep, Canadian Geese, Buffalo, Mountain Goats, Bears, Elk, Garter Snake and Deer .

In the Shuswaps camping, we found a Garter snake. I really liked holding and seeing the snake.

Here is a garter snake.

Here is a Mountain Sheep.

Here is a blue jay.

Claudio: While traveling in the mountains, Claudio has seen:

Mountain Sheep: Saw them last summer on the way to Maligne Lake. At the time, the sheep were crossing the road and passed in front of the van.
Elk: Saw them also last summer on the way to Jasper. Claudio got scared when Daddy approached an Elk family to take a picture for a relative visiting from Italy.
Deer: Saw them last summer and every time we go to Banff.
Bear: Saw a Black Bear crossing the road on the way to Banff. We only saw the backside of him.

Here is a picture of a rabbit, bird and snake.

Victoria C: Just yesterday we saw white-tailed deer running across a field because there was danger. Victoria knew they were in danger because their tails were sticking up.

In November 2001, our family went to Jasper, Alberta. Victoria saw 2 wolves in Jasper coming out of the forest to look for their dinner. We also saw some elk, an owl and mountain sheep. Some of the mountain sheep were licking the salt off the road and some were climbing down the mountain near the road. There were also baby mountain sheep that had cute little horns and they followed their mother.

A couple of years ago, my family went to Waterton Parks. There we saw bears on the side of the small mountain.

Here is a mountain sheep and lots of other animals.

Victoria M:
Deer – We saw deer just outside Riverside in the Ellerslie area. One time, it was a mother deer with her baby deer.

Rabbits – We have wild rabbits in our backyard. They like to go behind our slide to get out of the wind.

Birds – In our old house we had robins’ nests in the trees in our backyard. They came back every year.

Mice – We had a mouse in our house at Christmas. My mom and Dad think it came in with our Christmas tree. Thank goodness they caught it quickly.

Here is a bird, deer and rabbit.

Macey:

On our way back from a summer holiday in the Kootenay’s, a moose tried to jump over the barricade beside the road. The moose caught his leg and almost stumbled in front of our car on the highway. Luckily, we were able to swerve and did not hit him.

On our last trip to Jasper, we saw Elk, Mountain Sheep and a deer. We took pictures of the Elk with the big antlers. We watched the Mountain Sheep lick the salt off the road.

At Pigeon Lake, we see ducks, geese, bats, beavers, skunks, and deer. The beaver cut down my Dad’s favorite apple tree. The skunk was hiding under our neighbor’s deck. I saw him but Mommy could really smell the skunk. We also see farm animals as we drive to our cabin – horses and cows.

My Dad does not like bats. Sean and I were on the pier. Dad was cleaning the outside of the cabin and accidentally, with his broom, hit a bat that was sleeping behind a wall hanging. The bat woke up and flew at my Dad. Boy was he scared!

Here is a picture of a moose.

Callum:

Callum has seen Elk, Moose, Wolves, Bear, Mountain Goats, and White-Tailed Deer. He saw all these in the mountains as we were driving. The most frightening thing happened late at night as we were going to Hart Lake Indian Reserve to visit Callum’s sister who was working there. As we drove down a dark lane, a huge moose appeared in front of us and Callum’s Dad had to brake quickly to avoid hitting it.

 Here is an elk.

Rachel:

Elk – Jasper

Big Horn Sheep – Jasper

Mule Deer – Jasper

White Tail Deer – Devon

Coyotes – Devon

Jack Rabbits – on our street in Edmonton

Squirrels – Devon, Whitemud Ravine

Red Fox – Waskesui

Here are some Mountain Sheep.

Here is a Mountain Goat.

Here is a picture of a blue jay.

Matthew:

I saw Big Horn Sheep when I was in the mountains. They looked like tiny dots up on the mountainside.

I saw a Pileated Woodpecker when I was walking on a path by the ravine by my house. It was pecking on the tree.

When we are at the lake, we see loons and I find frogs and catch them and put them in a cage. I let them go when it’s almost suppertime. At night we hear coyotes or wolves howling.

Here is a picture of a rabbit.

Christopher M.:

Rabbit- I saw a rabbit from our car on the road by my house.

Mountain Sheep: I saw Mountain Sheep outside Banff, Alberta. We stopped our car on the side of the road and took pictures. There was a mom and her babies and they crossed the road in front of us.

Deer: I saw a deer in Nanaimo, B.C. It was in someone’s backyard and jumped the fence to get out.

Here is a Mountain Sheep.

Chloe:

In Banff, I saw my first elk. I was very excited to see a new animal.

For my first birthday, we went camping at Pine Lake in central Alberta. There were many ducks at the lake, both tame and wild, who I fed stale pancakes. They became quite pushy as they tried to get the pancakes, and one almost bit my finger.
In Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan, the campground we were in had many squirrels and one came every day for some peanuts. He even sat right in my bicycle seat to shell one of the peanuts. I also saw a deer walking out of the bush. As soon as it saw us, it ran away.

For my second birthday, we went to Miquelon Lake and camped for the weekend. There weren’t many exciting animals but there were hundreds of sea gulls. I had fun chasing the sea gulls all over the sand. I remember this holiday because our camp was filled with bees, and they loved my curly hair.
In the fall we went on a one-week vacation to Radium, BC. I saw Mountain Sheep and Elk along the way as we passed through the mountains. Around suppertime every evening, the mountain sheep would come down from the mountains and graze near our cabin. There were about forty sheep in our flock. They were quite tame, but we didn’t go too close, because it is not safe to walk up to wild animals. On the way home, Dad almost drove into a big Elk who was standing in the middle of the road at night. Mom yelled, Dad slammed on the brakes, and we all jumped with fright.

In Salmon Arm, we visited the beach, and it was covered with Canadian Geese. We had to watch where we walked because of the goose droppings.

We often see rabbits in the field behind our house. Early one evening, when my friend Kendra came over for a visit, we saw five wild rabbits stretched out in my sandbox sunning themselves. We didn’t bother them, and in the morning, they were gone.

In Kelowna, I made friends with a horse named Ginger who we passed every day on the trail when we were cycling.

In Kelowna, when we stopped for our lunch picnic, the chipmunks came out on the rocks and started scampering around. I tried to get near one, but he ran away.

Here is a Mountain Sheep.

Hanna:

I saw an elk at Jasper. It was eating right beside the road and my dad got out to take a picture – I was very scared that the elk was going to run into my dad! Then the elk crossed the road right in front of our car – he was very close to me and I thought he was beautiful.

When we lived in Hamilton, Ontario, we lived on campus at McMaster University and there was lots of wild life. Every day, a fox would run through our back yard! And I saw deer there many times as we lived next door to the woods.

I have seen deer many times while driving with my mom and dad. My dad always spots them and we slow down so I can see them too.

When we were going to the Hot Springs, we saw lots of mountain sheep. They were licking salt off all the cars.

I have also been to the zoo here and in Toronto and have seen many animals.

Sydney:

Grandma and Grandpa live in Sioux Lookout, ON and Grandpa has a garbage dump. He would take the kids and go and watch the Black Bears rummage through the garbage. Sometimes we would see 15 bears. One particular bear, we named Snaggle Tooth because she had no teeth and was absolutely huge. It was thrilling and scary because the bears came up to the truck and would sniff around. We also had a bear on the property of their resort and we had to keep a real close eye if the kids went out to play.

Nanny & Pappy Carroll have a cottage north of Montreal, on a little lake. The kids paddled around the lake and we saw muskrats swimming, beavers building houses, and a deer eating the buds off Uncle Wayne’s apple trees.

Here is a moose.

Elora:

Elk (Wapiti) and Mountain Sheep: Jasper National Park while camping. They were on the roadside when we went for a walk.

Partridges, Rabbits & Squirrels – the partridges nest in our neighborhood and they visit us in our back yard. We often see rabbits running through the neighborhood and squirrels like to run on our fence and they “chatter” in the trees behind our house.

We also visited the zoo in Calgary and saw many animals including giraffes, hippopotamuses, baby gorillas, and an orangutan that stared at us through the window. We wondered who was on display!

Here is a picture of a rabbit.

Kedra: Kedra saw a rabbit 2 years ago by the Muttart Conservatory in Edmonton. Mom, Holly and Dad said, “No way!” But Kedra said, “I did, I did see a rabbit.” Then when we looked very carefully, we saw a white rabbit camouflaged in the snow.

Once on the way from Fort McMurray (where Kedra used to live) to Edmonton, Kedra saw a moose and another time she saw a deer. It was in the afternoon. The deer was leaping. The moose was eating grass. We drove by very fast so we didn’t see them for very long.

Last summer, we were on the way to Jasper from Banff and we stopped the van to look at 2 white mountain goats. One was a mommy and the other was a baby. The horns were very black. The mountain goats looked smaller than we thought they would look. The goats moved slowly up the mountain to get away from us.

Last summer, in Jasper, we saw many mountain sheep standing on a path on a mountain. There were many more sheep by the road licking rocks for salt. There were probably 30 sheep. We stopped the car to look at them and to take pictures.

We saw a chipmunk in Jasper up on Sulphur Mountain. We were walking on a pathway and saw the chipmunk. It was very quick and not afraid of us. It climbed up rocks and scampered away.

There are many, many ravens in Fort McMurray where Kedra used to live. They are big, black birds. In the winter they come into the city to eat garbage. In the summer they live in the forests and raise their chicks. They aren’t afraid of people and have a wonderfully deep caw.

Here is a rabbit.

Billie:

We used to live in the country, so we saw buffalo, deer, coyotes, elk, and rabbits daily. We have also gone to the zoo in Edmonton and in Calgary. We also saw mountain sheep, bears and more.

Here is a rabbit.

Carly:

When we went to Jasper in January, we saw mountain sheep, elk and deer. When we went to Banff, we saw a coyote and more deer and some ravens.

At my Grandma Rose’s house, we chased the Canadian Geese that stop at the field next to her house. There were hundreds of them and they were noisy.

At my Grandma Elaine’s house, there was a rabbit that lived in her garden in the winter and ate her shrubs. I could see the rabbit from her bedroom window. I often see rabbits in my neighborhood. They turn white in the winter. They are browny-black in the summer.

I have seen beaver lodges in Whitemud Creek.

Here is a picture of a coyote.

Here is a picture of a snake and a moose.

Here is a picture of a mountain sheep.