Wildlife along the road that beckons

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the road that beckons, at least for me, is the suspense of what I'll find around the next bend. The chance to see wildlife is certainly one of the more enjoyable aspects and often plays a large part in deciding which path to take.

The Canadian Rockies are home to some of the larger forms of wildlife from bears to moose and elk to caribou. What with the summer crowds we weren't quite sure how much fur and hoof we'd actually see but have been pleasantly surprised at the variety we have observed.

The campground posts the almost requisite bear warning signs and the stores in Jasper seem to be doing a brisk trade in bear spray and we hear a lot of bear bells (referred to by the locals as dinner bells as it lets the bears know where the tourist treats are). What do you call a tourist running from a bear? According to t-shirts sold in town that would be Canadian fast food.

More seriously, there are bears, both black and grizzly in the campgrounds hence the warning signs. Why the grizzlies? Apparently for the young elk calves which also wander amongst the tents and campers. While we haven't seen an actual bear in the campground we have seen plenty of cow elk with calves as you'll see in the video at the bottom. Out on the road to Maligne Lake we've also spotted black bear, elk, moose and young bald eagles in the nest still learning to fly. Bull elk are also seen munching on vegetation and sporting majestic racks still covered in velvet ahead of the upcoming rut. And yes, tourists still cause bear, elk, and moose jams on the roads. The animals themselves seem to take all the attention in stride but one still cringes when someone tries to get too up close and personal with the local fauna. Still, if you love to see wildlife Jasper is a great place to do it. Here's some of what we've seen along the way...