The heat moved into Toronto, so we headed out. Instead of a straight drive to Nova Scotia this year, we stopped to visit a friend in Perth, not too far from Ottawa. Ted had been talking so much about a wildlife park he liked to visit and had been trying to get us there that is seemed like good timing. What he didn’t tell us was that he lives in a little piece of paradise and he had more than Omega Park planned for the weekend.
Ted was right about Omega Park — it is an amazing place to visit. There are a few walking areas, but most of the park is visited by driving through a well-planned zoo. Displays seem to respect the animals — they have room and a natural setting — and they are laid out so that folks in vehicles can see the animals without too much effort.
When you drive into the park, you are greeted by various types of deer. Red deer and elk are apparently closely related and I’m not going to pretend to be an expert at this point. An internet search tells me “Elk antlers grow up, out and backward, while the red deer’s grow up and inward.” So if you see one with antlers, that are large enough, you can figure it out. The females…well, still working on feeling competent. Also with regards to Red Deer vs Elk, Elk (or wapiti) are North American; Red Deer, indigenous to Europe and Asia. However, all are friendly (if you stay in your car), all love carrots and will check you out to see if you have any. If you don’t, no worries, it’s off to look for another more obliging human. It is quite thrilling to rub a big nose or velvet-covered antlers. Carrots are sold at the store/café just past the entrance to the park, if you are so inclined. No, they don’t eat cars, they aren’t pushy and you are more likely to be disappointed they don’t linger long enough should you want to feed or pet the big face in your window.
This deer is checking to see if Ted is worthy of interest. Once he figures out that there are no carrots in this vehicle, he wanders off. Note Ted’s lovely window mount (another car actually pulled up to ask him about it). And that is a Nikon 300 mm 2.8 lens. Lovely images and bokeh.
This carload of humans is much more obliging.
Antlers are preventing this fellow from getting his face very far inside the car.
Spring/early summer means babies.
I had no idea that coyotes were so beautiful. There were some cubs, but they kept pretty far back.
Wild boar also roam the roads.
Lots of shelters for lots of boars.
This ibex looks bigger than he actually is.
The eyes are so cool!
Arctic Wolves! Beautiful. A wee bit wet here: when we arrived in the park, it was raining slightly. It made the colours very saturated and kept the light nice and diffuse.
We saw 3 Arctic Wolf cubs. This little fella decided it was time for a nap.
I have never been this close to a buffalo before!
There is nothing here for scale, but this is a Musk Ox. I thought he’d be bigger.
One of the areas in which we were permitted to leave our car and wander around on foot was abundant with white-tailed deer. Such a treat to have them wander close, looking for a carrot, of course. And it was charming to see little tots being amazed as the beautiful things fed out of their hands.
It’s not often one can get this close to a deer!
Here a little girl is offering a carrot to a stag. Dad was taking lots of photos, but was close enough to offer assistance if anything seemed wrong. The deer seem to be inclined to be very gentle.
This is the same species of wolf as in the first image of this post: Timber Wolf. And this is another area in which people are allowed to walk outside of their vehicles. There is a boardwalk that separates a bear and wolf enclosure and which is an area in which park staff can talk a bit about the animals as they feed them. I pointed this fellow out to Ted. He’s been here many times before and identified this as the alpha male, but its body language puzzled me. The rest of the pack was waiting at the edge of the enclosure for the human to toss in some grub. This fellow kept a healthy distance away and his tail was firmly between his legs –a much more submissive behaviour than one might expect from an alpha. Turns out we were both right! A rather vicious fight had happened in which this “old” alpha lost, giving the pack a new alpha male. This fella, I guess, is still tentative about his new role in the pack.
On the other side of the boardwalk, which is raised, humans can come eye to eye with a black bear if one should climb up to the tree platform created for them. Yes, bears can climb. And they can climb fast.
The park has formal presentations in which park folk show off birds of prey and various critters. They are very much worth one’s time. As for language? While this is in Quebec, the presentations are given in French and English. Think Daniel Lanois, “Acadie.” Really well done. The bird here is a Harris Hawk.
If you have kids, this is a great destination. If you are a photographer, this is a great destination. If you simply enjoy wildlife, well, you get the drill. If you are able to be selective about the time you visit, avoiding weekend afternoons might be wise. Car traffic can mean slow progress if it’s busy. However, we went on a Saturday of a long weekend. It was slow for only a short time of our day in the park, if that’s any measure.
As for the rest of our stay with Ted, that’s another blog post.