Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Dogs, Polar Bears, Tundra Buggys and Snow



It's winter up north. In the north part of our province of Manitoba winter has arrived. Down south where I live there is no snow yet. Some friends just returned from a visit to the northern community of Churchill. To get to Churchill from where we live in Winnipeg, you either have to fly or spend a couple of days on a slow moving train. Churchill is Manitoba's only port and a lot of grain is shipped out of there. The season is short because of ice conditions.
             Being sled dog owners they had to check out the local sled dogs. 
Sled dogs in action.


 Polar bears congregate every year along the shores of the bay, waiting for the freeze up and to feed on ringed seals. The safest way to see these large bears is from a  Tundra Buggy . Our friends went on a tour and got to see these bears up close from a Tundra Buggy. The average Polar Bear is about 8 to 10 feet tall standing on it's hind legs. For that reason the Tunda Buggy  has very large tires and is built very tall. Most Tundra Buggies are 4, 6 or even 8 wheel drive. The latest Tundra Buggy was built is Winnipeg and shipped by train to Churchill. Check out the link for more Tundra Buggy information..

The bears in the pictures don't look very big or dangerous but they are. They are not something I would want to meet riding my Velomobile. Fortunately they don't migrate down south where we live. In the town of Churchill they have an alert system and armed conservation officers to handle any bears that might stray into town.  
           It's getting cooler out and in a weird way I am kind of looking forward to some winter fun in my Quest and with the dog sled.  It makes the winter go by faster if you are having FUN....

8 comments:

  1. Hi Kevin,

    Nice post! Polar bears are nice looking, but are dangerous wild animals, but this Tundra buggies make it possible to see them on close hold. It sure it's quite an awesome event to come this close to polar bears! I'm almost envious!
    Luckywise we don't have polar bears in Norway, with an ecxeption on Svalbard (Spitsbergen) were they live the year round. When we visited Svalbard on our cruise in 2007, we didn't see polar bears, but we have seen one of the locals coming home.
    It's a strange sight if you see somebody coming home carrying a rifle on the shoulder! It's not allowed to go out of the village unarmoured in Spitsbergen, it's to dangerous if you should meet a polar bear!
    Not snow here either yet, still rain is pooring down, tempratures in between +3 and + 10, good to have a velomobile!

    Greetings, Adri.

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  2. Hi Adri,
    We are lucky in many ways they don't migrate south too far. They don't hibernate like other bears either. I should have included a map on my blog too to show how far north Churchill is. The Tundra Buggy are so big you could drive your Velomobile under one from from to back.
    Greetings from Canada
    Kevin

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  3. Hey Kevin,

    That must have been quite an experience - certainly nothing that the camera can truly capture. Those are amazing animals! And the tundra buggies are really cool too. Wouldn't want to parallel park one though.

    Greetings fellow yellownaut, Stuart

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  4. Hi Stuart,
    That would make a great holiday for you. Not as dangerous as South America except for a few small Polar Bears. As long as your wife doesn't push you over the side it could be fun...

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  6. Hey Kevin, (made a dumb-ass typo in previous comment)

    Why not put the dogs in front of the Quest and combine your winterhobbies ;-)

    cu Cor

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  7. I tried that last winter Cor, but the dogs can't run fast enough. :(

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