My flight back to Australia leaves at about 3 o'clock this afternoon, so I have plenty of time to pack, do the last minute things and go for a walk. I got up at about 6 am, and headed out the door for a walk. It was dark. Very dark. And cold. I had a little debate with myself - "It's too dark." "It's too cold." "What if I run into a bear?!" "It's quite scary out here." And finally, "Don't be such a wuss." However, my wussy side won and I turned around and had a cup of tea in front of the open fire.
7.45 am. It was still cold outside but a lot lighter. So, I set off on my walk with the two dogs. Half way through my walk, I rounded a corner and through the trees, I spotted a big, black animal about 50 metres away. "Holy sh*t!" I thought to myself ... "it's a black bear!" I took a minute to assess the situation. The animal was looking at me. It clearly was not a cow because there are no black cows on this ranch. It was not a moose or a deer because I couldn't see its legs. It was big and it was black and ... it must be a bear. The dogs took off after it and I spun on my heels and went for the world record in power walking while my heart thumped wildly.
On my way home, I came across my neighbour, the resident cowboy, who was on his way out. I asked him to check it out and get back to me. By the time I got home, I received a text message ... it was a big moose with a calf. I'm disappointed that I didn't hang around to watch the mum moose with her baby. I drove back down to check it out but she was gone by the time I got there. Now, wouldn't that be a story, seeing a black bear on my last morning in Canada?! Oh well, there is always next year.
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