I just returned from my annual week-long trip to the Bulkley Valley. Because of the wildfires, there were a couple detours and a couple mistakes made by me to make the drives there and back pretty long (going there took me 18 hours, coming back took about 14-1/2 hours). But once there, it was wonderful! Beautiful. Peaceful. Restful. No traffic. No crowds. I could just focus on what I was doing, and maintain my own train of thought for more than 30 seconds at a time. There is lots of natural beauty, but didn't see anything too spectacular in terms of wildlife. Walking through the bushes, Northern Comandra was plentiful. Its berries ripen in late summer and these ones look plump. They are supposed to be edible, but not tasty. I did not try them. Also, I spent some time watching a small squirrel (I believe it was a Red Squirrel; I haven't seen Eastern Grey Squirrels in the Bulkley Valley) throw young Spruce cones off a tree. He climbed up to the very top of the Spruce tree and methodically went around the branches flinging cones out and down. They were all green cones, which puzzled me. I assumed they were too young to have seeds worth going after, so why go after JUST the green cones? Also saw many deer. Too many. They are destructive in the garden. They have miles of wilderness around them, lots of farmers' fields filled with hay, alfalfa, clover, timothy, etc., and they still find a way to everything in the garden. The ones where I was did not seem to panic at the sight of humans. Every morning three or more young bucks showed up in one area, a few does in another. The attached photo shows one of the bucks right against the sheep fence that is only about twenty feet away from the kitchen window. He is sure getting comfortable.
