Bad Bears, Bad Bears..Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You!

Churchill is a place where at this time of year, the bear

population swells to around 1000, the human population is around 900, and who knows how many tourists like myself were running about town! Obviously, some crowd control is needed to keep the people safe from the bears, but also to keep the bears safe from the people defending their property! Some years ago, the concept of a polar bear jail was developed as a means of conservation and protection of each species from each other.

So, conservation officers patrol the town in trucks and when a bear starts to wander too close to town (the beach is a favorite bear hangout) they shoot off crackers from a shotgun. Basically its a blank noisemaker type of shell. Most bears are taken aback and scamper in the opposite direction, some it may take several crackers to make them move it along!

When that doesn't work....they resort to trapping. These culvert traps are on a trailer and are taken to a habituated bears favorite spot, and baited with seal meat. When the bear hops in, the gate closes and voila...a trapped bear! The bear is not harmed, and upon capture a conservation officer retrieves the trailer and hauls him (or her) off to jail! On the 12th I did see a truck pulling out of an area with a culvert trap behind him....but too busy to stop as we had to chase a bear away from the guide's home!

Polar Bear Jail, is like a double wide Quonsethut that has 23 cinder block cells. The bears can NOT see each other, can you imagine the commotion??!! As of the 10th there were 11 occupants. Since they are normally in a fasting state at this time of year, they are not fed, but are given fresh water. As the ice approaches and cold weather arrives, one by one the bears are eventually all airlifted to the sea ice, or many miles away. They are first tranquilized and put in a large net that is suspended from a helicopter! What a sight that would be...a helicopter flying with a large white ball suspended beneath! Too bad none were airlifted while I was there, would be interesting to see!

BUT..that evening (totally by coincidence) we did get to see a yearling orphan brought in! We were on the CNSC bus and had just pulled up and were going to go out and take a look at the jail, when out of nowhere, a helicopter lands! Needless to say, we had to wait for the rotors to stop before we were allowed to get off. Nothing could have prepared us for what happened next. Some research folks get out...and then a guy jumps out carrying a HUGE ball of white fur! Sorry for the blurry shots...we had NO IDEA what was going to happen! Anyway, I was able to get 3 action shots of him running the bear into the jail!

Apparently some time recently, an orphaned cub had been found. They were able to capture her and held her in jail until they could arrange an "adoption". They tranquilize the cub and put her in the back of the helicopter and go off in search of a mother with a cub the same age. Once they locate a potential mom, they dart the mom from above, once on the ground they also tranquilize the cub. Everyone is slathered in Vicks Vapo-Rub (to disguise the scent) and I assume marked or tagged. They have had some success with this, some failures and a few times they lost contact with the family so not really sure...at least the cubs are given a chance.

On this evening, the potential surrogate was acting very hostile toward the helicopter and they were unable to dart her, the chopper was running low on fuel, and as you can see, darkness was closing in. A few days later they did find a surrogate, but when'

trying to locate the family a few days later, the orphan was not with them....they still continue to search for her from what I am told.

Critters other than polar bears!

Yes, I DID find OTHER critters in Churchill besides the polar bears! Just harder to see and not so visibly abundant! You may have to click on the image to enlarge it....but to the right is an Arctic Hare (middle of the photo...look for the black dot which is his eye). Guide Paul found him for me at Cape Merry.









Near the shore, we spotted some Willow Ptarmigans. Look for the white dot at the lower right corner of the very large boulder on the small hill. Also, there is a family of them on the smaller boulder lined up on top!


Was hoping to spot some Arctic Fox (saw LOTS of tracks all week!), wolves, caribou & lynx...but those had long since moved into the boreal forest so I was told. :-(

Scenic Churchill, Manitoba, Canada

So, here's just a hodgepodge of different photo's that I just really liked!

A sunset viewed on November 11th from the tundra buggy as we returned to the launch near the CNSC.

This was the sunset on the 9th from the tundra buggy.

A lichen covered rock and soap berries at Cape Merry.

The Old Battery at Cape Merry used to help fortify the Fort on the other side of the Churchill River.

Me at Cape Merry with a rock cairn in the background. Note, a "warm" day...no parka!

Near sunset out on the tundra near the beach on November 9th. It appears as if some grease ice is trying to form.

A sunny morning out on the tundra, but the wind was quite gusty that day as evidenced by the blowing snow.

The wreck of the freighter MV Ithica, rusting away on the tidal flats of Bird Cove in Hudson Bay since September of 1961. Supposedly it was hauling nickel ore from Rankin Inlet, Nunavut to Montreal. At low tide, you can walk to it, but is now a rather unsafe structure. In earlier years it was quite the party place from what I hear.

A menacing sky over the tundra, a bear sleeps in the foreground in a day bed, while a tundra buggy near the bay treks on...

Early morning pictures of the tundra and taiga after a snowy and frosty night!

A Doggone Good Day!

After the thrill of a helicopter ride in the morning,
I got my first real dog sledding experience that afternoon! In Alaska, I went to a kennel, but being it was May...and no snow...we rode on a cart. So, it wasn't all that authentic! But this was! The night before we had several inches of fresh powdery snow that fell..and it was a bit chilly, maybe mid to low 20's, so it was a perfect scenario! I knew it was going to be a great day also because there were several Gray Jay's flying around. Some were even landing on peoples outstretched palms as they had tasty morsels for them to nibble on! (New bird for me :-) )

Anyway, there were a few dozen dogs at Blue Sky Kennels, all cute as can be! Some were resting, a few were shy, some were very excited, but all were very friendly and loving! When it came time to hitch up the dogs....oh my...the commotion! "Pick me..Pick me" I think it what they were all barking! They truly love to run and pull the sled!

We were paired up and all patiently waited our turns, and amused ourselves by chatting, feeding the birds, petting the dogs, and enjoying snacks and hot cocoa in the warming tent. Here's myself, roommate Nancy (Washington) and owner Gerald getting ready to race off into the woods!

Here we are trotting along the snow covered scenic trail!

I don't have any pictures of me coming back into

camp, but here is one of Paul (NewYork) and brother Joe (Pennsylvania) with Gerald and on the sled behind them is Hong and Min from Texas! Whoa little doggies!

And I was surprised at the beautiful sunsets I saw several evenings (around 4pm)! I guess it hadn't entered my mind that the sunsets would be so colorful up there with unobstructed views! A pleasant surprise!

Bears From the Air!

On Sunday November 8,2009 I went for my very first helicopter ride! I was sort of bummed because the Olympic Torch was coming to Churchill at the very same time! No way to reschedule and I really didn't want to miss this opportunity either! So, we lifted off shortly after 8am and I was hoping to see a bear or two. The helicopter raced east at over 100mph to an area by Wapusk National Park and La Perouse Bay. Pilot Darryl said we would hover 250 to 350 feet above the ground. There were 6 of us + Darryl with me in the front row on the right side.




The scenery was spectacular, especially as we flew over the boreal forest which was covered with about 4" of fresh snow from the previous evening. I felt like a newly fledged eagle..just amazed at the view from above! I think I pretty much just had my mouth open in amazement, I was the only one in our group who had never been in a helicopter. Boy have I been missing out!











Then came the bears! Hard to spot at first, some blending in with the fresh snow, but eventually becoming easier to spot from above. The tricky part was then to figure out how to stabilize my camera! It was a bit turbulent and in many of my photos the subject (which was initially centered) was now either out of the frame for the most part. There were 5 bears in this willowy area, (1 is out of view), 2 are play-fighting and the others are on the sidelines viewing. I wonder what they are thinking? Do they "fight" the winner, are they taking bets, already had their turn, just nosy? I would love to know!



Spotted this cow moose and calf on the edge of the taiga and the tundra. Nearby also saw a red fox scurry into the willows.



























This bull moose was not so lucky...somehow it had met its demise (possibly a wolf kill or was injured) and a very hungry female with 2 cubs of the year (about 11 months old-have only nursed up to this point & have not eaten meat or fat) was lucky enough to discover it! She had been seen at the carcass for several days and was very wary of our helicopter.

This mom with cubs of the year were spotted only a few hundred feet from the moose carcass. I'm sure she would have loved to have a snack, but the female on the kill wouldn't let her near so she led her little family away.

The Bear Facts

Ok ok.....I KNOW this was probably not the best area in the
world to jump out for a photo op..but I just COULDN'T resist! But...there was an OPEN car door no more than 10 feet away that I could scramble into if need be...hopefully..
This beach in Churchill is a favorite spot for the polar bears and they blend in rather nicely with the large rocks...so if you see a rock start to move...start singin' "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"! The polar bear police are frequently in this area shooting off crackers (empty shells) to scare off the large beasts, but they don't stay away for long. Unlike our beaches, this one you should really avoid for the most part.

I thought some of you may be interested in some factoids that I learned about Ursus Maritimus (a.k.a. the sea bear, and Nanuk).
-They are basically brown bears that about 200,000 years ago differentiated themselves and adapted to polar regions.
-Nanuk is the largest non-aquatic carnivore in the world and is the only mammal known to track and hunt man for the sole purpose of a food source.
-Males are generally 700-1500 pounds and females 330-550 pounds, a very pregnant female may top the scales at 1000 pounds! This figure of course depends on the time of the year, just before waking hibernation (when they 1st come ashore in July after the ice melt) or in November (when they haven't eaten in several months).
-like brown bears, they are spontaneous ovulators and have delayed implantation, they mate in the spring, but they are just "a little pregnant"...the embryo does not develop for several months and only will if mom has put on enough weight to support the pregnancy, they will inhabit a maternity den in Octoberish and give birth near the beginning of the year weighing only a pound or so , The family will first venture out of the den in early spring, hang around the area for about 2 weeks then will head out out on the sea ice (keep in mind, mom hasn't eaten since July! and only has about 3 months to catch up on food!)
-twin births are common, triplets and singletons are rarer...the mortality rate is > than 50% ! cubs stay with mom for about 2 & 1/2 years, 2 full summers then mom kicks them out of the nest as she searches for her new maternity den
-males may try to kill the cubs (especially the small ones) for a food source, but also to dispose of the young so that they can bring the female into heat and pass on their genetic material instead of a rival's!
-Churchill is considered the "polar bear capital of the world" due to the large number (about 1,000) bears that congregate there in fall because in the Hudson Bay region, this is where the ice first forms and is the last ice to leave....basically the restaurant with the quickest seating!
-adult males are larger than the same age female
-their walking gait is about 3 or 4 mph....but can run about 35 mph, and swim at 6 mph!
-their favorite food is seals, which they stalk on the ice pack usually by watch full-waiting at a breathing hole and snatch the few hundred pound seal out of the water for a quick meal usually tearing off the skin and eating only the fat (foxes and ravens often get leftovers!)
-after meals, they usually quickly was off any blood by water washing or rubbing in the snow in order not to bring attention to themselves...one wouldn't want to be mistaken for a seal!
-they are usually solitary animals, avoiding each other for the most part, I found moms with cubs to be especially cautious to avoid other bears....
-but...since the "party" starts in Churchill...most will tolerate others in somewhat closer proximity than normal....females aren't in heat and there's no food so very little aggressive fighting right now, but there will be some "play behavior" where they aren't really being nasty...just teenagerish!
-their feet are HUGE and covered all over with hair except on the pads themselves. Here is a cast of a print that was in the classroom compared to a hand, dollar bill and lower corner a quarter. And below that, my size 6&1/2 foot boot next to a fresh track of a bear in new snow on the morning of November 12th. The bear was still near, about 500 feet away, but the guide had a shotgun and we were in his driveway (had been called home to chase away a bear).

A "Learning Vacation"...You Gotta Be Kidding!

Yes, I know.."learning vacation" sounds like quite
the conundrum. But...that's what hooked me in the September 2008 issue of Budget Travel (my very favorite magazine). A very small paragraph described the offerings of the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. An independent, non-profit research facility in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada that is located where the Hudson Bay, northern boreal forest and tundra all meet. Several times a year, they open their facility to small groups of travelers interested in seeing (but learning at the same time) the northern lights, bird migration, beluga whales, flowers, AND polar bears! I quickly phoned to enroll in Lords of the Arctic which was over a year away, starting November 7,2009. Above is an aerial photo I took of the CNSC. CNSC is located on the site of a former rocket research and testing range that was operated by the National Research Council of Canada. A few decades ago, the facility was abandoned and sold to CNSC. Lucky them! They are now in the process of building a state of the art facility that is slated to open in 2011. I think I will go back upon completion and do one of their other programs, possibly the one in July that focuses on Beluga Whales.

Every day, they kept us busy..ALL DAY. I am telling you...really busy. I usually don't really like "tour" type vacations, because I feel I don't see everything and I have the need to be busy every waking moment. They did a fine job of meeting that expectation! Every morning it was breakfast at 7am, then an hourish of free time before the activities began, then lunch, then activities, then dinner, then our evening presentation, then visiting with others. I was so busy visiting, I stayed up until almost midnight every night journaling and up daily by 5:45am! I suppose if you wanted you could lounge around, miss out on some stuff and skip the presentations....but my brain was hooked on learning everything arctic and polar bear related! I also had a super time visiting with all of the other guests and staff! (Imagine that). Here's my roommates and our instructor, Rupert Pilkington. From left to right, Joice (Arizona), Rupert, me, Betty (Calgary) and Nancy (Washington). We got along swell, and although I did slightly over pack (surprise surprise) there was still enough room for their luggage in our room also!


Here I am outside the building with research technician (more importantly at this point polar bear guard) Katrina. We had just arrived and were going to enjoy a nice hike around the rocket range. Bear Security is tantamount to safety! Yes, the shotgun held live ammo! Another had a shotgun with crackers (empty noisemaker shells). One does NOT venture out of the facility without an armed guard, AND when opening the door, you need to look left, right AND up...as some bears are known to have gotten up on the roof!

We were also accompanied by Silver! He belongs to the construction crew that is working on the new facility and is a "bear dog". Instead of barking at intruders, he barks (and how) when he sees or smells a bear. And when that dog barks...you better be alert..no false alarms with this one!

And he is very happy to go with everyone acting as a bit of a mascot, proudly walking in front of the group wagging his tail. He was also genuinely interested in greeting everyone as they came outside!

Below are some of the launch towers at the now defunct rocket range that we walked past on our hike. It was a very overcast day as you can tell by the photos and it started snowing a few hours later.

Where's Kriste Now???

Hi! Belated greetings from Churchill, Manitoba in Canada! (I'm actually home now..) Now I know some of you are wondering where is that, because you're curious like me...some I know are more geographically challenged...so I thought I'd make it easy on everyone and take a photo of my atlas! So, the tip of the pen marks where I was, you might be able to click on it to enlarge. Basically, its at the very top of the province of Manitoba (almost to Nunavut) and sits on the shores of the Hudson Bay. Some of you might be thinking..cool..maybe I'll take a road trip one day! WRONG! No roads lead to Churchill! But...you can arrive on the train (36+ hours from Winnipeg is what I've been told), or a 2&1/2 hour flight on a very small airplane from Winnipeg. Being that I do have to return to work promptly..I went for the plane, which had about 40 people going up, and 25 coming back (no empty seats either), a little noisy in comparison to a 747, but..much smoother flight and landing!

Here I am shortly after arrival in Churchill at the scene of my 1st "bear sighting"! The owner of the B&B at which I stayed for a few nights was gracious enough to pick me up from the airport and also give a quick tour of the town/orientation to Churchill and play photographer too! It was a very overcast and dark day...but surprisingly warm! Was in the high 20's this day! (I was prepared for down to -20 Fahrenheit!)

Also on the same flight I met Helen and Barb (both from Winnipeg) and they are staying with George & Stella as well! We hit it off and had a very fun day checking out the town...Churchill may never be the same.....Here we are at an inukshuk (inn-ook-shh-ook) at the beach! An inukshuk is a stone landmark that marks a place of importance. Might be for navigation, hunting spot, reference point, of just because it makes a nice photo for camera happy tourists!

I am told the town has a population of about 900, and of those that I met....I found them to be very welcoming, polite, helpful, funny and downright Paula Deenish to crazy tourists like myself! Here's Helen & Barb on Kelsey Blvd, the main drag of town. I'm not really good at determining how big the town is... but to walk from one end to the other, no more than 10 minutes leisurely pace. And going the other direction...maybe 2 or 3 minutes. There were maybe a dozen stores with all sorts of treasures and several restaurants and hotels/B&B's to choose from. They are very welcoming to tourists which sort of surprised me...I'm not sure how I would feel if for 2 months out of the year the town increased by more than 25% and I was asked the SAME questions more times a day than I could count. But....the residents are truly gracious, remembering you from a day or several days past and taking an interest in you and making you truly feel at home and part of the family! This is another reason why I will return to Churchill some day...maybe in the summertime to see the Beluga whales, birds, and flowers...oh...and bears too!

And I just really liked this sign!!