Wildlife Adventure! October 2023

We have just arrived home from our autumnal Algonquin Park adventure! Here’s the highlights, set to a song I composed called “When All Is Won”.

But first: my funny woodcock video is making people smile lately. Enjoy!

Algonquin Porcupine!

Moose in Algonquin Park

Another Visit to Algonquin Paradise

We’re back from another journey filled with animal sightings, wolf howling, and glorious nature.

Moosing

The last day of our trip, everything happened all at once. Which is how I like it, because it’s truly a gift and then you don’t spend days wanting even more.

At one point we spotted two moose by the road. They were probably brother and sister, maybe 2 years old. We went up into the bush to get ahead of them (don’t bother following moose, just get ahead!).

We stood behind some trees, and the female was coming straight at us. We made some noise so she’d know we were there and wouldn’t spook. She kept coming until she was about 10 feet away, and my breath escaped me as I stared into her eyes. I swore she was speaking to me. She was so sweet, so gentle, so intelligent.

 

A Lesson Learned

I didn’t tell the whole story of how the fox got in my car, and why it stole our tobacco, as I was a bit fried when I got home. But it was a lesson for Willow I’d like to share.

We were going down Arowhan, one of our favourite places, when we stopped by the old fox den. Supposedly it had been removed/disturbed and the foxes had vacated some time ago. The father fox is very old, about 10-12 years, which is unheard of for wild foxes. But he’s clearly wise to the ways of people and makes a good living befriending visitors! I believe I’ve encountered him a few years ago.

Despite seeing no evidence of foxes, we stopped and I gave a blessing with my rattle and sprinkled herbs from my rawhide bottle. As I prayed, Willow walked into the trees. She was going to leave some tobacco too, but decided she didn’t need to.

Then she called to me, and I followed the sound of her  voice, utterly astonished to see a fox sitting right beside her! It was the father fox, I’m pretty sure. He came right up to me.

Then, we watched him wander over to the car…where I’d left the doors open! Clearly a seasoned thief, he jumped right in and helped himself.

Then…he stole a whole bag of cigarettes! We believe he was telling Willow to take the time to give tobacco blessings. Well, a big blessing was given that day, because we followed him and his kits around but never recovered the tobacco.

The foxes were sweet and played with us, leading us around and stopping for us to catch up. What a wonderful moment, just sitting on a log surrounded by three or four of them!

 

 

The Anticipation: Algonquin Calling

In two weeks, we’re heading to Algonquin for a three-night stay in a Mew Lake Yurt. It’s been two years since our last visit and staying three nights is a huge treat.

I’m dreaming of moose and wolves and bears. We’ve had unbelievable experiences in the past, sitting outside the car at night with wolves frolicking just 20 feet away, or bears eating from the blueberry patch. All we do is search for wildlife and any sighting is valued. Once, on a pitch black forest road I saw the tiniest glimmer of something…and when we shined the flashlight, there was a pine marten staring at us. We drive for hours at night, so slowly that the cops sometimes ask if we’re okay, and we’ve got huge flashlights ready when we see something. I’m really good at seeing by intuition in the dark.

We always bring seed-feed for the wee chipmunks too, and in the Park animals are so different, so unafraid of people, they’ll get right into your hand! Grey Jays will swoop down onto your hand if you so much as hold it out.  Foxes on Arowhan will come up to say hello. Once, a mother wolf chased her misbehaving cubs back and forth over the road right in front of us. We’ve had private wolf howls with a pack, we’ve seen shooting stars while waiting with held breath for an animal to creep out of the trees, and we’ve mastered the art of cooking bacon on a shovel over a campfire. We’ve walked into the dump at dusk with nothing but a broken rake, seeing the glowing eyes of way too many bears pop out behind the trash heaps (okay…we’re not doing that one again!).

Still, there’s always something new to see, always another surprise. We’re still waiting to see the otters–they’re out there somewhere!–and catching a photo of a bull moose with the biggest rack of antlers yet is the name of the game.

Algonquin is a magical place, so spiritual to us, and so healing. Bring it on!

Healing, Spirit, and Everything

I talk to spirits. It’s not any particular religion or tradition, it’s just what I do. Often spirit-animals bring me messages. The spirit animals that represent me best are deer and wolf. They, together, are a duality of gentleness and fierceness.

Also, for the last three years I have been working on self-transformation, healing from the past, and setting my potential free.

All this came together during our trip to Algonquin. Deer and moose spoke to me. “They are coming,” Spirit said. To me this meant many things. “Do not be afraid to face your fears,” Spirit said.

Earlier I had told Willow we would see a wolf on a hill. I knew it, yet I did not expect it. Even in Algonquin, such a sighting is rare.

Then, driving down Highway 60 at 1:00am, Willow asked me to call upon my helping spirits as we spoke of some healing and facing my truth. I spoke to Willow of deer and wolf and my other spirit guides. Just as we were coming up a hill, and we saw pairs of eyes.

A beautiful wolf stood there on the hill, eating a deer-kill.

It did not run away when we stopped the car. It did not flinch when we shone powerful flashlights on it and took pictures. It stood and ate, fearless.

Two other wolves were lurking in the trees, and when we turned the car and our flashlights off to listen to them moving, I got a bit scared. So I looked up at the stars, just as a meteor streaked across the sky, right above the wolf.

Wolf is my truth, and after these amazing happenings I was purely excited to face it. To remember, to know, and to be.

“You will be who you want, and who you are,” wolf-spirit said to me.

So I will always remember the truth of who I am and what’s gone on in my life, but for every bad thing I remember I will revel in something good. And I will always remember how far I’ve come.

Algonquin Bound

Finally my wife and I are going where my heart has been calling out to be — Algonquin park, arguably our favourite place in the world. We leave tomorrow, if we don’t race off early!

Life has taken strange and beautiful turns lately. I am stronger than ever, though often full of tears. I am transforming.

I’m looking forward to doing some shamanic journeys this week too, surrounded by beauty and nature. What more could I want?

Algonquin Photos

As I go through Algonquin-withdrawal, I’m looking at photos from our previous trips, and I thought I’d share.

My wife’s so cute, I couldn’t help but post a picture of her cooking bacon…on a shovel.

Me feeding the grey jays. If you hold out your hand, they’ll swoop right down and land on it.

My wife and a grey jay.

A beaver, probably at the dam on Arowhon.

Me feeding a tame fox on Arowhon road. He looks scruffy but was doing well for himself and his family of kits!

We named him Chunky.

Is it any wonder why I want to go back?