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.