T and I have been desperate to see a moose in Canada; however in the past seventeen months the closest we have come to one is the yellow road signs, or a soft toy in a souvenir shop.
Now our time in Montreal has an end date, our desire to see a moose has become more urgent.
With limited time at our remaining weekends due to T working, we were going to have to go for the easy option: rather than hope to come across one in the wild, we were going to have to go to a park.
Now our time in Montreal has an end date, our desire to see a moose has become more urgent.
With limited time at our remaining weekends due to T working, we were going to have to go for the easy option: rather than hope to come across one in the wild, we were going to have to go to a park.
Parc Omega is a safari park just over an hours drive away from Montreal. Taking advantage of the sunny (and warm - plus five degrees!) Saturday, it was a great day to get out of the city.
Arriving at the park, we were greeted at the entrance by the sight of a big plastic arch and animals. Seeing this, I feared the whole experience would be a little too cheesy for my liking.
Thankfully, my fears were wrong!
Thankfully, my fears were wrong!
After paying the $20 entrance fee (which included taxes - not often that happens here), stopped off at the park shop to purchase a bad of carrots (which weren't really any more expensive than at home), and then started our drive along the 12km loop.
Someone knew we had just bought carrots:
Having bribed the 'guard', we then drove past an iced over lake, which is home to the beavers. Being February - and a particularly cold one at that - the beavers were hibernating. Can't say I blame them. Apparently you can occasionally see where they are by the telltale sign of steam rising from the ground. We didn't see any steam however. The other animals we didn't see were the bears, as they too were still hibernating.
But not to worry; there were many other animals to see - and feed carrots to:
The Arctic Foxes were well camouflaged:
The Musk Oxen were smaller than I thought they would be, but had an impressive winter coat:
Halfway along the route, we stopped off at the deer enclosure where there were trails to follow on foot. We ended up on the one meant for snow shoeing at first, and I discovered why snow shoes were needed:
Snow shoeing is something we want to try, but unfortunately the place only accepted cash and it was $12 for a 3-hour rental. With about $6.75 in cash between us (always the way: you mean to go to the bank to get some cash out and then forget, and it's the one place which doesn't accept cards...), we were not going to tick snow shoeing off our 'to do' list.
Once on the correct path, we followed the path as it wound round through the woods, ending up in a clearing which was home to the Sugar Shack - a nice surprise considering we had no idea where we were walking to - unfortunately the shack wasn't open; it would be in a weeks time. Typical!
However, the guy was there and, spotting our disappointed expressions, started chatting to us. He had tapped the first maple trees just an hour earlier, and pointed us to the trees, where tin buckets hung from the trunks catching the clear sap as it trickled out of the tree.
Once on the correct path, we followed the path as it wound round through the woods, ending up in a clearing which was home to the Sugar Shack - a nice surprise considering we had no idea where we were walking to - unfortunately the shack wasn't open; it would be in a weeks time. Typical!
However, the guy was there and, spotting our disappointed expressions, started chatting to us. He had tapped the first maple trees just an hour earlier, and pointed us to the trees, where tin buckets hung from the trunks catching the clear sap as it trickled out of the tree.
I hadn't realized how the conditions had to be just right in order to produce the sap. Minus temperatures during the night, with warmer and sunny days cause pressure changes inside the tree which makes the sap flow; if it gets too cold, the sap may not run at all. Once the fluctuation between night and daytime temperature stops, so does the sap.
Back in the warm car - although it was warmer, that wind was still bitter, and a couple of degrees above freezing isn't that mild...we continued our animal watching.
We saw the huge, solid beasts which were the Buffalos:
We saw the huge, solid beasts which were the Buffalos:
The public were asked not to feed them, as they are herd animals, and therefore you could easily attract the whole herd to your car, and after seeing the size of them, that would be pretty scary. Of course, the car in front of us fed them carrots...
The buffaloes had their own paddock, and we then returned to the deer paddock, where there was another bouncer guarding the entrance:
It was by now after lunch time, and clearly time for a siesta:
The Arctic Wolves were firmly behind a tall wire fence:
Although they weren't exactly cuddly, I considered the Coyotes, with their steely eyes, to be scarier:
Nearing the end of our journey we were not at all popular with the Alpine Ibex having run out of carrots:
You may be wondering, did we see a moose?!
Yes we did. He appeared to be the only moose in the park, although he did have a black goat for company. The don't form herds, so although initially sorry for the poor chap being the only moose in the park, he was probably much happier that way.
Yes we did. He appeared to be the only moose in the park, although he did have a black goat for company. The don't form herds, so although initially sorry for the poor chap being the only moose in the park, he was probably much happier that way.
But the moose wasn't our only highlight: I finally saw some real, live, not-on-wallpaper, Caribou!!
We spent three hours at the park, and despite the beavers and bears not being out to play, thought it was a good time of year to visit; as there weren't too many other cars, and it was also good to see the animals in their cold, snowy Canadian habitat.
Canada sure has some amazing inhabitants!
Canada sure has some amazing inhabitants!