The Bear Necessities

Week Six

The Bear Necessities

large bear prints

Small bear prints

We seem to be down to two bears, namely the big male whom we call Mr. 2:30 and cute little Spot. Mr 2:30 is big and probably should give us cause to worry, since he is oblivious to our harassment at this stage. Dear little Spot, on the other hand, seems to feel loved by at least some of us. He has been caught sleeping under the Lodge several times, usually by the Shepherd dog, but not by Toque. 

Since an incident when Seemee and I with the two dogs were pursuing Spot (so-called because of the brown patches in his black coat) on our quads, I have had some doubts about Toque’s seriousness with this particular bear.

We had driven the little bear, probably a yearling, into a wood on the edge of the Western Lagoon. When Seemee peeled off with his dog - to go back to work, I went to high ground and watched while Toque sniffed the perimeter of the wood. “We are a very professional pair!”, thought I.

Or perhaps that thought was just vanity. Toque sniffed his way right past the bear, who watched unmoving and silent. Bears cannot turn off their stink – and Toque was using his nose for sure.  I called him back and directed him to the bear. Toque and I speak the same language, so in only seconds he walked head-first into the departing bear’s rear end. And then – silence – as they disappeared into the brush.

I switched off my engine and cupped my ear, trying to overcome the effects of a few rock concerts 45 years ago and a subsequent lifetime of loud industrial noise, straining for any auditory clue. When I finally heard Toque’s chesty bark it came from far to the left. “Toque must have chased Spot to the beach” was my thought as I restarted the quad and rode quickly to ‘back him up’.

I was right. They were at the beach all right! Their mutual surprise that I had found them was comical. My first view was of Toque walking chest deep in the water and lapping up a drink. Spot seemed to be waiting while Toque refreshed himself. The time-out ended the second that Toque saw me. He put the attitude back on and went after Spot, who had been waiting patiently for Toque from the top of the beached docks. 

The two of them ran off playing their little charade for all it was worth. My disgust was feigned but I later made sure that we ‘had the conversation’.  I had basically had to hang around just in case they ran into Mr. 2:30, who would definitely be classed as a threat to Toque.

A day later and it happened again, under slightly different circumstances.  And this time Spot even chased Toque!  It didn’t bother Toque a bit, and when I asked him ‘point blank’ if he and Spot were trying to scam everyone, he just turned his head away and hung it low, as if in shame.

The social scientist in me wants to be Toque’s press agent on this.

On the day when we arrived this year, I watched Toque seated beside Madison, one of the Arctic Watch guides. She was feeding cashews to Toque with her left hand and peanuts to a red squirrel with her right. This brought back memories of my Malamute dogs Chinook and Misty 2 (both still missed greatly) back in New Brunswick, who were absolute best friends of the cats of the household. They were only ‘predators’ when outside of the walls of home. They would corner ‘neighbourhood’ cats using a co-ordinated pincer movement in the blink of an eye, and as any opportunity presented itself. Walking them was never boring.

The easy familiarity goes both ways, with the same squirrel recently issuing a typical squirrel-type ‘dressing down’ at Toque’s dish one evening last week. Toque was eating his dog-food on the back deck....dog-food which had sat for a number of hours unclaimed. The squirrel had drawn the conclusion that this food belonged to him and was sitting in front of Toque and advising him that he should leave it. Everyone came to hear it...it was so loud... he was jumping up and down and running around...

Toque simply ignored the squirrel and munched away.

There are so many squirrels that we haven’t tried to distinguish between them or to name them. We are offering them free funeral services, however, since finding that one of the bolder ones has been coming indoors by an avenue as yet unlocated by us. Our first clue was little bite marks on the bowl full of blueberry muffins! 

These Malamutes will scoop up a small rodent like lightening and ... well ... maybe I should spare you the details. The rodent does NOT stand a chance, in my experience. Therefore the Lodge squirrels survive because Toque sees them as part of his pack, AKA his extended family.

I am pretty sure that he sees Spot as a member of the pack too. This really can’t be a good thing, unless we are hoping to start a circus.

The heat has been oppressive, and the insects which come with the heat have driven us into bug suits as our normal workaday attire. The more northern members of our crew have been looking for jobs that can be performed indoors, and as a result we have painted floors, replaced the brake fluid on one of the trucks, done hydraulic work on the wheel-loader and installed an overhead door. Our northern canine has been hiding inside too – to escape the heat and the hordes of insects.

 He was being bitten by blackflies and his eyelids were swollen almost shut.

Toque making himself at home on the caretaker's bed

Ryan has taken a shine to the 277 Caterpillar, an all terrain loader, and can be found most days along the side of the runway, enthusiastically cleaning-up old tree roots and soil that remain from a decade ago when the runway was made. A couple of days back everyone was doing so well on their own that I decided to play with the other all-terrain loader for an afternoon and managed to build a forty yard stockpile for the driveway project. 

We recently switched the watering system over to another truck and WOW, did I ever get a big surprise when I fueled that truck. I had been pumping for a ‘while’ and when I stopped to peer inside the tank, thinking that it must be nearly full – well, ‘quel surprise’, it wasn’t anywhere close to full. The punch-line is that the Ford F-600 4x4 has a fifty gallon fuel tank!  I sure don’t miss owning vehicles like that and I feel extravagant even when the truck I am using belongs to someone else.  The International Paystar diesel 4x4 truck which the Ford replaces, has gone back to it’s intended role as a dump truck, and not a moment too soon. We really need something that can haul lots of dirt. 

 

It was a unique sighting for me. They were too big to be geese, and the noise which they made as they flew past in the middle distance, distinctly different from that made by geese. I looked them up and found that the bird formerly known as the Whistler Swan is now known as the Tundra Swan. They seem to have begun to nest at the northern end of the ‘back’ lake, perhaps two miles away.

Susan managed to get fairly closed to one of them, which was swimming in the shallows in front of the Lodge, late one evening this week.

The Symphony is Tuning Up

Week Five

The Symphony is Tuning Up

 

The week started out with one, and only one, very vital project:  ‘temper the runway’! The runway testing service was due to arrive on Thursday to document the load carrying ability of the airfield. The plan had called for us to soak the runway heavily on Tuesday and then a day later to use the big roller compactor to pack the sandy soil to give a hard surface with good load carrying properties. Ever concerned about possible mechanical delays, we watered earlier than planned (Monday) and watered again on Tuesday to the tune of another 10,000 gallons. The roller compacter had barely gotten started by 10:00 am on Wednesday when a Cessna 310, in my opinion the most beautiful airplane to come out of the 1950’s, buzzed us and entered the circuit. Gord, Ray and Mike of CBR Air Services were arriving a whole day early, having cleared their work early at nearby Kasba Lake.

Nearby Kasba Lake Lodge

After introductions all around, our roller team went back to work and by late-afternoon our airfield was rolled and inspected. We all certified as VHF air radio operators and took brief courses so that we could judge cloud height and were qualified to convey wind speed/direction and cloud height to incoming aircraft.  

Susan put on a great meal of baked trout and we talked, and talked some more. We talked about aircraft and flying in the north, and about resort caretakers being eaten by wolves, and about air accidents, including one involving a DC-3 at our own resort when construction was first initiated. 

We also talked about tundra reclamation and stabilization of dirt runways. Gord shared contact information on both named subjects – and made me promise to mention his name when following up on these leads. Gord shared photos of wildlife and Mike showed me a picture of his daughter in company with astronaut Chris Hadfield. Mike’s daughter, at the age of 14, is a Flight Sergeant in Westjet Squadron, a new Air Cadet unit in Calgary. She is already selected for a glider pilots flying scholarship, with her eye fixed on a power flying scholarship follow-up. She sounds pretty motivated.  Needless to say, Mike is a very proud dad.

 Mike and Ray stayed out in a skiff fishing until sunset – expressed another way – nearly until midnight.

After they flew out in the morning we all agreed that we are looking forward to their return next year. Hit the highlighted flyoutmovie to see video

Flyoutmovie

A week makes all the difference. We are still bringing machines to life and performing needed maintenance, but we have already arrived at the point where there is a piece of heavy equipment for everyone. It was hard work, sometimes having to do something 2 or 3 times before the machine being repaired was finally ‘just right’. As of today (Friday) we are a colony of six heavy equipment operators and two dogs.  Susan is the most versatile of us all, driving a roller-compacter while baking our next meal at the same time.

Gilbert and Ryan came out of the shop yesterday – with all repair-jobs complete. Gilbert is working the loader as co-worker for Seemee on the excavator.  Ryan took over a skid-steer loader and is separating old stumps from soil to be used respectively for heat and landscaping. Beth is running the water truck for some dust control and Susan is using the ride-on roller-compactor to keep the runway smooth where there is a possibility that the traffic will make ruts. We have adapted one of the skid steers to power our new crusher and it works fine.

With the pressure lifted a little bit, we had an easy morning of getting the machinery started and then we each went off to a work area and got busy. Most of the machines are engaged in landscaping and general beautification, cleaning out old stumps and deadfalls in the wooded areas around the lodge and the runway.

I was the only person not driving a piece of equipment today (Friday) so I went to work on the crawler tractor treads. At mid-afternoon, I took a break and sat with the shotgun on the runway – waiting for Mr 2:30, the largest of our black bear ‘herd’. Since his usual route would take him right through the area where our people are at work, I figured that it was time for a ‘bear-banger’ or two. Toque doesn’t stay around when people are using the machines or chainsaws so we might not notice the bear until he wanders among us.

Today Mr 2:30 was running a little late, or perhaps he had another engagement. I gave up and went back to my dozer project by 3:00.

However – I was able to give him a warm welcome on Saturday.

I gave the gang a day off on Saturday in anticipation of a long workday on Sunday. With 3 separate deliveries coming in by deHaviland Buffalo, we expect to be busy until midnight on Sunday, with the first flight arriving in the afternoon. As usual on my day off, I spent the time fueling and lubing chainsaws, replenishing grease guns and then greasing equipment, and just generally getting things ready for another week.

I carried a few loads with the water truck, more to troubleshoot an overheating problem than to prepare the runway for anything. It was in one of those watering runs that I spotted Mr. 2:30 at the uphill end of the runway, meandering across. And it was my good fortune to be driving the loudest vehicle at the resort. I rev’d the engine and put the automatic shift to 5^th gear.  I was probably doing all of twenty-five miles per hour as I approached the bear, the big diesel screaming.

I can see why bears are type-cast when they are caricatured by cartoonists. This guy did a double take at the oncoming ‘thing’, and just kept on perambulating across the runway for a few seconds before taking a good long third look. I rev’d the engine for extra effect and...he dialed it up to a trot...and then... a run! And unlike for shotguns fired over his head, he kept running until he was out of site in the woods.

It was with a sense of accomplishment that I slowed and carried on with spraying water on the dirt runway.  Only five minutes later... there he was, standing up with his arms at his sides watching me from behind some (too small) bushes. He was genuinely curious about whether he should feel threatened. It was time to reinforce the lesson, and so with the engine roaring at full revs I crossed the runway and faced him down – making the engine growl, and then making the note rise into a roar. He ran for it again – but this time he was running through the woods toward the Lodge. Whoops!

For him to start using the Lodge as a place of refuge from the threatening giant machine was not going to happen if I could change his mind on this, so I went up to speed one more time and drove off the end of the runway onto a service path which would bring me at him head-on as he reached the front of the Lodge.

Or so I thought.  

I parked in front of the Lodge, dominating the entire area from the hilltop and I waited. The engine was growling and I would slowly raise the RPM’s to make it sound ‘threatening’.  After a New York minute I realized that he must have changed direction or be hiding, as I should be seeing him. With a mental shrug, I made my way back to the runway on the narrow service path. As I passed the Lodge, I might have heard Toque raising the bear alarm, had my engine been quieter. The bear had hidden under the Solar Collectors. My first inkling that he was still around was seeing the rising dust plumes from the Honda quads a few minutes later. They were ridden by Beth, Ryan and Gilbert – all in hot pursuit of Mr. 2:30. Beth was honking at the bear with an air-can warning horn.

 Mr. 2:30 just doesn’t get it! He needs to be somewhere else. We will be making his life difficult until he decides to leave. However, I suspect that, in reality, the bears are just staying ‘a little bit’ out of our way – in the way that we people just avoid our more obnoxious neighbours.

A day later and as we park the runway rollers, get forks on the loaders and trailers behind a few ‘quads’, the Buffalo makes a low pass. We have not stopped moving since 7:00 am. The Buffalo departed Resolute at 1:00 p.m. and made very good time to Baker Lake and then to us at Ennadai Lake. Hit the following to view video Daylight landing video 

When I looked into the cargo hold, I asked Chris (the pilot) if he was still planning to make two separate fuel pickup trips to Stoney Rapids today. His response was words to the effect: “ Why not?”

Two hours later at 7:00 pm, they took off carrying over a hundred 45 gallon drums – their return ETA: 10:00 pm.  They beat this by seven minutes, greasing it onto the runway and stopping halfway along it at the road to the fuel dump, obligingly turning so that they could roll the barrels right down the road for us. They unloaded and used the remainder of the runway to take off – getting in the air 13 minutes after touchdown for their second run to Stoney Rapids. If this was not the BUG CAPITAL of planet Earth, I could solemnly declare that there are “no flies on these Summit Air guys”.

Prior to takeoff, and just as they were closing the vehicle access ramp at the aircrafts rear, Susan and Beth came zooming up the runway with meals for the aircrew. As they flew into the sunset the guys dined on Susan’s special recipe for honey-garlic ribs, three vegetables, fresh rolls, coffee and sodas, and with ‘sex in a pan’ for desert.

Susan and I sat in the cab of the wheeled-loader to avoid the bugs while awaiting their return at 1:00 am. We watched their ‘straight-in’ approach in what I always think of as a ‘bomber’ approach. In years gone by I used to park when passing through Perth-Andover NB and watch the B-52’s and F-106’s in the landing circuit for Loring AFB in Limestone, Maine. The bombers seemed to be coming down a glide-path that extended all the way to the horizon, while the interceptors/fighters would do a much closer landing circuit. This led me to refer to those long final approaches as ‘bomber’ landings – when I later took up flying. We watched the landing lights of this Buffalo coming out of the South for what seemed like an eternity – although Chris subsequently told me that they had only been on for the last seven miles.

Our video of their landing was quite blurry – probably as a result of the brilliant landing lights coming toward us. The emergence of the Buffalo from a huge cloud of dust is quite dramatic – even so. Video of the final rollout.

On Our Own For Awhile

Week Four

On Our Own For A While

When the Dornier left this Saturday morning there remained only six of us (plus two dogs).  After a breakfast of bacon and eggs, we had an informal meeting to discuss how we are going to work together and what the play options might be. We have a lot of things to finish-off, and a number of new projects to undertake.  We have had a serious bear problem and I suggested at the meeting that Seemee and Beth might want to start target practicing on the runway. Beth wants to bring a goose to the table and so she is keen to do some sighting-in before going out after flying food.

Telling the bear to go home

Are you barking at me??

The dogs have had some success in putting the run to the bears.  I worry about the dogs because the bears can run faster than most dogs.  I underscored that people are paying to come and see ‘living’ wildlife, so we can’t just slaughter the bears. We have not been following the practice of burying the ‘kitchen waste’ this year. The ‘composter-cum-bear feeder’ has definitely been drawing a bunch of ‘regulars’.  Toque stays close to us when we go outside and is not shy about raising hell when a bear is near.  We look to him for his excellent hearing and great sense of smell. He looks to us as ‘armed backup’. 

Three Bears

 He does get too close for my liking sometimes.  One of the bears took a swipe at the Czech Shepherd Demon, the other day. That swipe was a little too close!

Toque gets rewarded with praisings and treats when he warns us of the bears and he takes the job very seriously. I had a vision of producing a ‘Toque and the Bears’ adventure story to bookend the earlier story of his wild-goose chase. The problem at first was that the dog and the bear would not get close enough to be in the same photo. When that problem later resolved itself I was already putting down the camera to run for the shotgun – in case I needed to separate the two of them in a hurry.

The bears have been so numerous that on one day early in the week a lot of people had to down tools and fire up ATV quads to chase the bears away. Those who were working alone were given a dog, or an armed escort or brought back into the lodge or the workshop. The basic problem is that we are providing their food, and the second level problem is that they don’t see us as creatures that they need to avoid.

I found some 12 gauge rubber bullets in a store-room yesterday. I would probably have used them if I had known about them. The bear in question was hanging around the back deck of the lodge, near the Barbeque. Someone strongly suggested it was time for shots to be fired or pepper spray be used.  I have no desire to get close enough to use pepper spray, and I must say – tracking him was really easy.  All I had to do was park overlooking the Caretakers Cabin where Susan and I live, and he came along his usual path – right behind our beautiful cottage. When he got to my level on the esker he was curious about me so I revved up the engine.  This did not have the desired effect.  The photo was going to be perfect (and I was hoping to get a good picture for this blog), but he was coming along at a faster rate than his usual meander. And then the engine stopped. And it would not restart. The little voice in my head said: ”Oh crap!”

Bear Butt

By the time I had determined that I was now a pedestrian, he was getting pretty close.  Without further ado, I fired a 12 gauge #2 shot in the air over his head.  He turned and ran – but only for about a hundred feet.  When he peek-a-booed me from behind a tree I fired again and this time he really left the area.

Interestingly Toque missed-out on this little adventure. He usually hears me start the diesel Arctic Cat Quad (the ‘Hummer’ of quads) and comes running, but that vehicle was connected to a trailer at the time so I grabbed one of the older Hondas – and he did not associate the sound with my departure. 

Toque and I do ‘rounds’ together every morning and every evening so that he can mark ‘his’ territory. I don’t think that the bears respect his mark at all. Wolves have stayed just outside of the territory, however – so perhaps it has been a benefit. He will not do these rounds without me. I am pretty sure that one should call this inter-dependence, as he is concerned to be alone in the woods without me nearby ... and I feel the same way about having him nearby.

Girls on Machines

In the nuts and bolts corner ....I have plumbed-up a water truck for general use around the place. Susan was learning to drive it yesterday and now my niece has taken a fancy to the big old thing (it is a former airport snowplow truck - big and noisy). After a brief familiarization period with Sue and me, she is now spending her part of her day hauling water.  This has become a big help on some of the jobs - like watering the runway for dust suppression.

The plane brought us needed supplies and some of us spent most of a day digging into the boxes of vehicle and equipment parts. Gilbert and Ryan worked with me to find and install new hoses on the Loader and a new relay on the ‘Mule’.  Seemee spent the day operating one piece of equipment after the next, first repairing a sinkhole beside the runway and then eventually replacing Beth as painter in the mobile scaffold to work at finishing-off some loose ends of paintwork on the crew quarters – AKA ‘the slave quarters’.  Susan spent the day organizing what seems to be at least a half of a ton of groceries and rearranging the kitchen to suit her needs.

full moon on Friday the 13th

The guides spent their last few evenings fishing and kayaking in such open water as exists.  Where they are going, the snow is still deep and the temperatures are hovering at 15 below zero. This has been their ‘taste’ of summer. We dined on pike balls one night and trout the next. Both meals came from 14 pounders.

One thing is for sure: mealtimes are quieter since their departure.  The banter among Pierre, Kevin and Nansen had us cracking-up at every meal.

If it sounds like we are all work and no play 

blooming lichen

then let me assure you that Susan and I have got a hobby.  Okay,..... another hobby. We have taken up gardening. We are experimenting with growing lichen and moss to repair the tundra.  We are going to start with caribou poo blended with powdered milk and dampened daily for our first try.  It is an adaptation of one British Columbians online advice for cultivating a moss garden.

flowers on the cloud berry

 

If anyone has had success in cultivating lichen and moss we would appreciate hearing back from you. 

If anyone knows the identity of this little fellow, who pecks under the bird feeder while the furry rodent feeds in it, please let me know. The little book of birds here is not the Peterson's guide.

 

We are really getting to like this lifestyle – the rewards are around us every day. It is a combination of the beautiful scenery, the unspoiled natural environment, the ‘joy of work’, the very pleasant companions - and every day – something new.

We have even been looking around for a smallish Caribbean resort that could use our services during the winter months. It could not ‘top’ this place – but we need the warmth.