Attack of the Giant Cephalopod

Cthulhu emerges...

On the beach at Port Renfrew sits this piece of driftwood looking vaguely like a giant octopus with its tentacle-like roots.

You might be thinking: "Well that's ridiculous. Octopuses live in sea water. They can't crawl around on land."

Guess again... and try not to think of one of these critters crawling out of the deep looking for a meal.

Race Rocks

Pinniped heaven...

 Race Rocks Ecological Reserve is an ecological reserve located at the southern tip of Vancouver Island.

Because of its location in a high tidal current area, there is an exceptional variety of marine life that inhabit the island on a periodic basis. It is a haulout area for California and Northern sealions and a birthing rookery for Harbour seals. It is also the most northerly birthing colony on the Pacific Coast of North America for the elephant seal.

The visitor

Tiny guests at our feeder...

We live near a nature sanctuary and get a large number of birds visiting our feeders.

The hummingbirds are frequent visitors. During the late summer and fall they will duke it out with the wasps for drinking rights at our feeders.

The answer: Big, noisy and smelly.

 

Sea lions at rest...

The question is: What three words that accurately describe pinnipeds, the class of animals that includes seals, sea lions and elephant seals?

We have two local varieties of sea lions -- California sea lions (seen above) and stellar sea lions. One way to distinguish between them is through their vocals. California sea lions bark whereas stellar sea lions snort and grunt. Also, stellar sea lions grow much bigger than California sea lions... about three times as heavy.

Elephant seals (seen below) grow bigger yet, typically up to twice as heavy as a stellar sea lion. We saw this big guy/gal on a nearby island during our recent whale watching expedition.

An elephant seal takes a break...

Deep diver

Going for depth...

Recently my wife and I treated our nephew to a whale watching trip as a birthday present. It was organized through Eagle Wing Tours. They made it a great experience despite the COVID-19 measures they had to put in place in order to stay operating.

Our tour guide kept up a non-stop commentary about local marine wild life in her pleasant Irish accent. Along the way we saw three separate humpback whales.

As she explained it, typically these whales will surface for three to five big breaths before doing a deep dive to go for food. The deep dive is signified by the flip up of the tail out of the water as they go nearly vertical.

Whales on the move...

Duck soup

We live close to a small nearby lake known as Swan Lake. It was carved out via glacial action and is fed only by a few streams and rainwater.

All of which means the water is relatively stagnant. In the summer, algae blooms spread across much of the lake's surface creating a pea soup effect.

However, it doesn't seem to bother the numerous ducks, cormorants, gulls, turtles, frogs and small fish that call the lake home.

Secret squirrel

A local ninja squirrel makes off with the goods...

Recently we've been going through bird seed for our feeders at a goodly rate. We didn't give it much thought... simply continued to load up the feeder every few days.

Early one morning I looked up from my coffee to see this guy/gal doing squirrel gymnastics to get to the seed.

Mystery solved... we've taken to setting out a separate supply of sunflower seeds for the local squirrel population.

Them!

Beware of mandibles!

Them! is the cinema classic that started the whole 'giant mutant bugs' trend in the 1950s. It's the tale of giant ants that threaten a small New Mexico community.

While these ants aren't gigantic, they are very nearly as scary to me because they can deliver a pretty good bite. I discovered them outside my backyard shed. In the process of sweeping them away with my feet, a few managed to climb up to my arms.

I didn't give it much thought until I felt a startling pinch.

I had never encountered such aggressive ants before in BC in all my decades here. A helpful expert with the municipality identified them as formica ants.

From the website insectidentification.org:

This group of ants do not sting, but they can bite using strong mouth parts. They also spray formic acid from the tips of their abdomens at predators or perceived threats like human fingers. The formic acid can cause mild to severe irritation depending on the proximity of the target.

Airy aerie

Soon to making sweet sweet eagle love...

And speaking of eagles...

On Galiano Island a few months ago we spotted this pair of eagles "skree-ing" in a tree overhead as we were walking along the harbour waterfront.

It was just good luck that we turned and I happened to glance up another nearby tree to see this nest.

Soon to be the sight of eaglets...

An eagle's nest is known as an aerie. Typically they are constructed from large sticks and lined with moss, grass, seaweed, etc.

A typical nest can be as wide as ten feet in diameter and up to nine feet high. However, first year nests are usually smaller, and the nest size will increase each year as eagles re-use the nest and add sticks to it. So that would suggest that this nest is a newer nest.

Bald eagles are territorial. Breeding pairs return to the same nest site year after year.

Very large nests can weigh as much as 1000 pounds!

A Flock of Eagles

A cloud appears above your head 

A beam of light comes shining down on you 

Shining down on you

-- "I Ran"

We tried to tempt this young eagle with a freshly dead crab. We tossed it over to him and s/he cautiously approached it and gave it a couple of exploratory pecks.

Maybe it was all the work involved to get at the meat when there were easier pickings about that deterred the bird.

BTW, a group of eagles is known more specifically as a "convocation" of eagles.

The buffalo don't roam

Buffalo block the road...

At Oregon's Wildlife Safari, the animals are free to roam while visitors are confined to their cars and must slowly drive through the compound...

... unless the animals decide to bring things to a stop. That's what these grazing bison did for about fifteen minutes as they paused in the middle of the road for some important bison business.

An amblin' lama...

Ornery ostrich

"Come at me, bro!"

At Oregon's Wildlife Safari, once we stopped feeding this guy/gal food pellets, s/he got a little bit aggressive about sticking its head in our van to look for more handouts.

I had to shoo it away from the van... which it didn't like at all. We got into a bit of a staring match and, for awhile, I wasn't sure if I was going to win.

Critters

It's not easy being green... and floundering on your back...

During our Mexico stay we encountered some animal life that was new to us. One was this huge colourful beetle who ricocheted off my head and wound up on his back. His shell had this highly polished green sheen to it... it almost look metallic.

We promptly uprighted him and sent him on his way.

Another was this iguana who was a minor celebrity as it sunned itself on one of the boardwalk loungers to the amusement of the many tourists taking photos.

Call of the wild

An eagle cries out for company...

This gal/guy(?) was perched on a far away tree at the limits of my pocket camera. I waited patiently to try to get it mid-screech. S/he seemed to be calling to another nearby eagle wheeling overhead.

In fact, it was more of a screech than a call, so I'm gonna assume it was female.

😉

A flurry of flamingos

Flamingos on display at the zoo in Calgary AB...

Although a group of birds is known as a flock, many gatherings of birds have more specific names. For example, a flock of crows is known as a murder while a flock of owls is known as a parliament.

Which is weird since owls are solitary birds not known for flocking.

I think a group of flamingos should be known as a 'flurry'. It has a nice alliteration. However, to find out what a group of flamingos is really called just hover your mouse icon over the image above.

Colourful swimmer

One fish, blue fish...

Many species of tropical fish are brightly coloured, but some of our local species are just as colourful, albeit in a more monochromatic way.

This gal/guy is one of the inmates at the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea in Sidney, BC.

The Centre is a popular attraction with kids and adults alike. The steampunk-inspired entrance simulates a dive to the bottom of the ocean in a faux-submarine.

Calling Jules Verne...

The Deep

Not as scary as s/he looks...

Wolf eels in our local oceans are typically five or six feet long. They have some nasty-looking teeth in a face that looks like some sort of Muppet nightmare.

Despite their appearance though they are shy and docile creatures, preferring to hide among rocks like this one at the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea in nearby Sidney, BC.

Oh rats!!

Making a play for the bird seed...

Here in Victoria BC we are normally snow free, but this year was an exception. For much of February we were under a foot of snow.

The result was that some animals, such as this plump female Norway rat, were forced to raid bird feeders to find food. Personally, rats don't bother me as long as they stay outside my house. I don't see them as any different from squirrels or voles. Honestly, both my wife and I find them kind of cute.

¡Ay, caramba!

Do not go swimming off the docks!!

We recently returned from Puerto Vallarta where I made a surprising discovery. While waiting in the local marina for a bus ride, I glanced out over the water to see a 10-foot alligator lazily swimming among the yachts.

Locals working on the jetties didn't give it much attention, so they are obviously native to the area. We've been to Mexico numerous times and this is the first time we had ever seen one. I guess when you consider that alligators stroll the golf courses of Florida, it's not such a surprise, but it's still disturbing to see them so close to civilization.

White wolf

"I can stare for a thousand years..."

I was surprised to see these all white wolves at The Grizzly Bear and Wolf Discovery Center. Every wolf I've ever seen before was always shades of white, grey and black. However, Google assures me that, yes, grey wolves can indeed be all white.

They are not to be confused with Arctic wolves which are also all white.

I also learned that if an animal such as an elk is being hunted by wolves, it stands a much better chance of survival if it stands its ground and uses its antlers for defence. Wolves prefer to run after their prey and pull it to the ground.

When they are milling around an animal which is standing its ground the pack members more often just get in each other's way.

 A post-snooze stretch...