Learning Story – A Wildlife Sighting
The Week of January 31, 2024
What Happened?
While sliding near the lake, the Bushkids spotted an animal chasing a fox across the lake! The animal was really far away so it was hard for the Bushkids to determine what it was.
“Is that a black wolf?”
“It’s legs look short, is that a wolverine?”
“A wolverine would have definitely caught it.”
“We should hunt it.”
“Why are they here?”
“I am scared.”
“Is it a bear?” Reply: “No the bears are sleeping.” Reply: “But it’s so warm today, maybe it woke up looking for food?”
A knowledge holder arrives shortly after and one Bushkid says to him “Hey, maybe you can hunt them?” Reply: “Well I could but I don’t think they want me doing that so close to town.”
“Can I call my dad? We should call him. He’s a wildlife officer.”
“Why is the fox just sitting curled up like that (in the middle of the lake?” “Is it dead?” “Oh no I think it’s injured.”
Why is it Important?
All of us were so curious and quiet while we watched the lake for a long time all together. It really brought us all together – a strong sense of community. We asked so many questions to each other and we all tried to share our own theories of what was happening using our prior knowledge and experiences. We did a safety talk and discussed how to be safe while we monitored the situation and what to do if an animal came in to camp. Together we called the wildlife officer – he was on speaker phone – thank you Loren Hudson! The Bushkids shared their observations with him. Different stories were shared about their own experiences with animals and we sorted through them to see how they could help us understand this experience. We talked about the significance of this being the home and Land of these animals, how much respect they deserve and how we can show gratitude for the opportunity to be here with them.
What Does This Mean For Next Time?
We can follow up with the wildlife officer to find out if they discovered anything else about the animals. What do wildlife officers do when they are called to a wildlife siting? What else does their job entail? What kind of training would they need for their job? We are making a list of bush skills for the Bushkids to learn and sign up for each day – are these helpful skills for work like that? One Bushkids family has offered to talk about snowmobile safety with the Bushkids too. We can also learn more about the habitat of foxes and wolves here and how they are snared and hunted.