A busy day at the OK Corral

Lots happened today. Dudes with big machinery showed up to make the dirt pile in my back yard go away, and commence the process of putting my yard back together.

And so he starts 

Working around the kitchen 

One of 6 dump truck loads of fill hauled away 

The back yard, coarsely sculpted

In the middle of the day, a big thunderstorm blew through. We were eating lunch outside at the time, and watched it from the garage.

Ominous clouds in the gap 

Swirling in the peaks

And the wildlife was around today. Hummingbirds...

Bird on a Wire

...butterflies...

A Mourning Cloak butterfly, looking worse for wear

...and a grizzly bear. Yep, a bear. We were sitting on the front deck having tea when a grizzly bear ambled down the road eating the dandelions.

The other side of our flower pots 

Lunch time!! 

Certainly not aggressive behaviour... 

That would be an ear tag and radio collar 

Mmm, mmm, good 

He can eat all he likes

That would be Bear 136, also known as Split Lip, who calls Banff park home, and weighs in at 225 kg (that's 496 lbs). I ran across this article talking about him being out and about in December of last year, and this video of him shot by Banff park.

We scooted inside and took the above photos from our living room window. We also called Kananaskis Emergency Services, who dispatched a Fish and Wildlife officer. While Mr. 136 was doing nothing wrong, the opportunity for him to have trouble happen due to his presence was fairly high, so they shooed him out of my 'hood. 

I am happy to live where this can happen. I am sad that he had to be shooed away, but understand that it's for the best for him and for the others who live in the neighbourhood. He looked very fat, happy and healthy, not stressed, aware but not bothered, and happy to munch on dandelions as long as they were there. I spend time as a volunteer Wildlife Ambassador trying to help people understand that we can co-exist quite peacefully with these wonderful animals, if we do so being aware that they are around, and giving them the space that they need to hang out. We live in his living and dining room (today was clearly proof of that), and we're the bad roommates that cause the disturbance, not him.

Mr. 136 is welcome back any time.