Bowron Lakes: Oh, Nuts!

Although encounters with bears, moose, and other large animals have left more impacting moments in my years of guiding, the more comical ones often involved much tinier denizens. Three of my favourite stories were of the bushy tail variety, and all happened along the Bowron Lakes.

The Bowron Lakes are a series of large and small lakes connected by portages, streams, and rivers. Set against the backdrop of the glaciers and mountains of British Columbia's Cariboo region, it is considered by many to be the quintessential lake canoeing experience in Canada and is ranked as one of the world's ten best.

Many years ago, before metal food caches on the ground were added to the campsites along the Bowron Lakes, caches were usually wooded platforms set between two accommodating trees, some 5m/15' above the ground and located a short distance from our campfire and tenting area. The trees were also set some distance from other surrounding trees to prevent access via any kind of jump. Further security was provided by stove piping placed at the base of the supporting trees and above the platforms, to prevent any animals from climbing onto the platforms. We would access the platform by raising a wooden ladder, left on the ground, at each cache. What animal could possibly breech such an intricate defensive system?

As our day came to an end, the guides would bring the food, and the like, to the platform, climb the ladder, and secure it for the evening. The remainder of the evening was left to sitting around the campfire to enjoy conversation and the stillness and quiet of our wilderness setting.

This bucolic setting was interrupted at one of the campsites by the incessant chirping of a squirrel. It just went on and on! My assistant guide went off to see if he could locate the source of the irritation and throw a pine cone at the offender. He returned a short time later with a smile on his face, while the chirping continued unabated. He beckoned us to follow him. All ten of us followed as he led us to the food cache. And there, sitting atop one of our food dry bags on the platform, sat one really pissed off squirrel. He just kept on chattering. He probably climbed the raised wooden ladder while we were getting another item to place on the platform. Since there was no option for him to get down once the ladder was lowered, his frustration became heightened, and he announced it with his continued chattering.

Amusement aside, we reset the ladder, vacated the area and listened from a distance. Quiet returned and we assumed that he had taken advantage of the ladder and hustled on home. We went back to see if he had indeed left. Yes he did. Before lowering the ladder, I climbed to the platform to insure that everything was okay. That little ...........! He had bitten through our snack dry bag and eaten a good portion of our dried fruit and nuts.

All I could envision for the rest of the evening was this bushy rodent lying on his back in his tree trunk home, with a huge smile and distended tummy. If Mother Nature was at all fair, I hoped that he would suffer from one big tummy ache for a few days.

In the next posting, I'll relate the other two short stories.