There were signs of an approaching winter, temperature slightly above zero, antlers falling off and bears checking out dens.
Mud always seems to attract the boars. Some of them still had nursing young. Enthusiastic young...
Once again the red fox was there to greet us at the Parc shop/restaurant
And the arctic fox and silver fox were checking us out from their enclosures. The silver fox (right) was starting to look quite silver
Canada Geese were filling one pond
Young elk, red deer and a fallow deer were enjoying the corn put out in the feeding troughs
A youngish red deer seemed to have really gotten into the hay that morning
Despite it being mid-morning, some of the bull elk seemed tired and weren't partaking in the carrot feeding. Although one lying in the middle of the road was perhaps expecting personal delivery?
in the photo at the left below, one elk (Bernard? See June PhotoStory) is missing the back part of his antlers and the other had lost his antlers after being treated with a testrone calming drug.
While the rut seemed to be over, one red deer was still announcing his presence
All five moose, three in one enclosure and two in another, were out in the open. A first for me. One of the moose had dropped an antler already.
The domestic cat that had taken up residence in the red fox enclosure last month was out in the moose enclosure. Perhaps making the rounds of the Parc?
We were greeted by a flock of some 18 wild turkeys on first entering the Parc, a second smaller group were checking out a feeder (along with a squirrel) and the ground below it.
Another feeder had squirrels, blue jays and a raven enjoying the feast
A pair of ravens (a bit further away than I would have liked) seemed to be preening each other. I hadn't seen that behaviour in ravens before.
The black wolves looked like they had been up partying all night (or maybe feeling the effects of the switch to standard time?😊)
Meanwhile a small group of timber wolves were looking for snacks at the wolf talks the Parc does throughout the day.
The antlers on the fallow deer were good size, except on the one year olds....
They fallow deer have an interesting "hair cut" that is particularly noticeable on the young ones.
Some of the male fallow deer aren't quite as delicate in appearance as the females
Over at the pond in the bison paddock the mergansers were still there, as was the great blue heron. A belted kingfisher also made an appearance.
The Przewalski Horses were out enjoying the enclosure, one seemed to be checking us out.
The black and cinnamon bears seemed to be thinking about hibernation and were checking out their dens
There's a pine tree in the Rocky Mountain goat enclosure that I always marvel at. It is at the top of the rock outcropping and looks to be holding on for dear life.
