Close Encounter of the Wildlife Kind
On a beautiful fall day (October 9th) my husband Colin and I were enjoying our last day in Waterton Lakes National Park by hiking to Lineham Ridge. What an extraordinary trail this was, with astounding views of the surrounding peaks from a spectacular ridge walk! On our return trip, we stopped in at Lower Rowe Lake, which was just a short side trip of a few hundred metres off the main trail. As I rounded a corner on the trail, I was startled to see a large black animal at close range. My reaction was that I was facing a black bear as I immediately reached down to my waist belt to pull out my bear spray. But it turned out to be a large jet-black off-leash dog, one of two. As we approached the two men lounging by the side of the lake, I told the one closest to me that their dog had given me a terrible fright, as I initially mistook it for a black bear. He just laughed and shrugged it off. I made the decision not to give my sermon on the many dangers of off-leash dogs, thinking these were likely locals who knew the rules and would just throw me attitude
A short time later, Colin and I resumed our hike on a heavily forested section of the trail, which is quite narrow, clinging to the side of a steep and deep valley. Once again, I rounded a corner to come face-to-face with another animal. This time it was a large Big Horn ram, the size of a pony. He abruptly came to a halt as did I. He made the first move and graciously yielded the trail to us, plunging into the very thick forest and making quite the racket as he pushed his way through the thick tangle of trees and deadfall. Indeed, he didn’t like that too much and as we inched past him along the trail, he actually took steps towards us. We fingered our bear spray but my husband called out to him in a loud voice and Mr. Ram opted to push on through the heavy growth until he was behind us at which point he re-gained the trail and cantered off up the trail. Uh oh, we thought. We expressed our concern that he may encounter the two men. But as both dogs were wearing harnesses, we hoped they had just been unleashed for a quick drink and dip in the lake and men would have them on leash.
We continued down the trail for a few minutes, when I was surprised to hear the clatter of smalls rocks behind me and I thought my husband had fallen as coupled with the sound of rocks I heard him call out “Mandy, watch out!” As I turned my head to look at him, I was shocked and screamed out as a large animal literally brushed my side as it thundered past me and down the trail at a full gallop. It was that magnificent ram, obviously scared for his life. Shaken by this closest encounter we had ever had with a wild animal, we finished up our hike. As we were preparing to leave the trailhead, the two men and their dogs emerged from the trail. When asked if they saw the ram, they said no, but did admit that one of their dogs took off chasing something, which they assumed was a deer. At that point, we relayed to them the dangerous situation they had caused for us. We called it in to the Park office when we got back to town.
In looking back on this situation, I realized how lucky we were. If that ram had head butted us out of the way, I am sure at that speed he would have broken many bones and we could have been seriously injured. If he had shouldered me a bit more as he galloped by rather than merely brushing my arm, I could have been sent tumbling down a step embankment. Off leash dogs are not only a danger to themselves, their owners and the wildlife they encounter but sometimes, as this example illustrates, other individuals who can become collateral damage. Dogs in our national and provincial parks should always, ALWAYS be on a leash.
