Lock Down at Sarah's School

Sarah phoned me from school this week, (an unusual occurrence, because the students are not allowed to use their cell phones during the school day), to inform me that she wouldn't be home on time because there was a lock-down at the school. My immediate reaction was to wonder "Why? Was there somebody violent on or near the campus? What was happening?" Sarah seemed just fine and not worried, so I didn't actually feel panicky, but still.

Turns out there was a bear treed in the creek adjacent to the school. The salmon are spawning in many of our local creeks and rivers right now, and lots of dead salmon in shallow water constitutes bear paradise during the time of year when the bruins are all trying to put on some fat in anticipation of a long nap over the winter. I on the other hand am trying to get RID of some fat in anticipation of the winter, but I digress...

Anyway, I sent Mike out this morning with the camera to get some shots of the salmon in our local creeks and here is one picture of a fish that has made its way upstream, presumably fulfilled its evolutionary destiny by spawning, and is now bear bait:

Sarah says she was able to see lots of fish jumping and swimming on their way upstream. She also says that when she runs laps in PE around that side of the school, it is pretty odorous, with all of the dead and dying fish.

Here is a photo taken a few years ago (not by us) of a bear feeding in the Coquitlam River.

Have to say, I LIKE living someplace where I can see the salmon and have to keep an eye out for the bears. Last year, the school had a resident coyote for a few months. It is easy to forget, living so close to the mall, shopping centres, etc, that we are actually living right on the edge of a wilderness that extends for hundreds of miles to the north of us, with only a few cities and towns in the midst of it all.