Bears, Cougars, and Wolves: The Great Predators of Vancouver Island

     On Vancouver Island, the West Coast Of Beautiful British Columbia we have three main predatory animals bears, cougars, and wolves. Each of them a top rank predators in their own right, and for very different reasons. This blog I will share some of the teachings of the first people of this island and how our peoples viewed these powerful predators.

Chims, Black Bear, Ursus americanus - vancouveri.

      Chims the black bear is by far the largest of our predatory animals, but at the same time very much docile and unaware of humans. He walks around the forest as though he owns it and rightfully so does he not see any other animal as a threat. This bear is an opportunistic feeder and an omnivore. The diet of a black bear just like man is dependant on vegetation as much as it is on dependant red meat.  It is the bear’s knowledge of vegetation that garnered much respect. Vegetation has health benefits and medicinal benefits that is why many aboriginal peoples consider the bear a symbol not just power, but of medicine as well.

      Physically the bear with its big winter coat and thick hide looks like a bear, but confusion arises when you see a the skeletal remains of a bear for it too closely resembles that of a human being.  To track a black bear one would find their prints also eerily looks human. The front paw prints resemble a handprint, while the rear paw prints look like that of a footprint with claws. It is that resemblance to human beings one of the main reason why the bear were not harvested as food by the first peoples of this island. Also note worthy in this temperate rain forest zone of coastal BC, winters do not get cold enough for bears to hibernate so there they are remaining with us all year long.

Kayuumin, Cougars, Felis concolor - Vancouverensis.

      Kayumin the Cougar is comparable to humans in weight, not a big cat in any means. Its true strength is stealth, speed, cunning, claws, and bite force. Our cougars are solitary animals they are true carnivores, and have the most success at hunting. They primarily hunt deer and elk in finding remains of an animals that have fallen prey to predation. One can easily tell the hunter, Cougars are finicky and their teeth are designed for the kill and not much else. They turn their face to the side to grasp and strip muscle and tendons from the carcass. They leave bones and fur of their prey behind and this is a serves purpose to the forest and scavengers in the surrounding area.

      The cougar has garnered the most amount of fear, and even more so than that of the other great predators of Vancouver Island. It is very rare to see one first hand, that adds to the fear. Their size however makes them vulnerable, and in the event of an attack one could realistically escape given the relatively small stature of this predator. Fear however is immobilizing and fear ignites the run factor. If you run from a cougar it will chase you, but one of the scariest facts about Cougars is that they are true predators that use fear to separate and divide their prey; if they cannot separate you they try other tactics. Such as Baiting, one famous story of my people is to beware of the baby crying in the woods of night. For that cry is the cry of a cougar baiting. To hear a cougar is as scary as it is rare, but they can often be heard seemingly mimicking the cries of a baby. It is the tactics of the Cougar where my peoples leaned to bait while hunting. 

Qwayaciik, Wolf, Canis Lupis - Crassodon

      Qwayaciik the wolf is the predator my people closely identify with, they live a pack life and my people historically lived in Big houses that included much more than just a nuclear family. Just like in a pack our families were very large and depended on one another. Success in hunting with strategy based on numbers was the aboriginal way, and the way of the wolf as well. Wolves of Vancouver Island also depend on the Forest and the Ocean recourses equally. They too harvest bivalves and univalves from the tidal zone, they harvest or scavenge carcasses from marine mammals washed ashore, just as much as they harvest the ungulates of the forest. The wolves are one with the world completely. 

      I believe that is why the wolf is held in the highest regard by my peoples, they are truly one with their environment. The wolves maximize opportunities not limiting their pack to the forest or the ocean. My people are wolf clan and never kill them for food or for sport, rather just respecting them and allowing them their rightful place in the world as we know it. Wolves too in my area are excellent swimmers and can swim great distances, often one can find on the many little islands surround Vancouver Island evidence of wolves swimming around island to island in search of foods. Wolves have the most powerful bite force and can even bite through bone consuming calcium from bones of prey and the shells of tidal zone foods. The wolves inspire our belief in maximizing the benefits of the foods we consume. We know that predator and prey relations are important and improve our forests, rivers, and even the air we breathe. All animals have a purpose that is what we learned from the wolf pack. I speak now for the un spoken the predators allow them to have their own space, culling any predator for the sake of prey is not very wise in my opinion. Lets change how we treat our predatory animals in the modern day, Why? Because it’s 2015.

Lastly I want to talk about the official designation of these three predators, their Latin Names

By: Wish~Key

Notice that in each of them in they are a sub species of a much larger group Unique to Vancouver Island. Vancouver Island predators and Vancouver Island’s First Peoples are truly unique and have evolved to survive the rugged west coast in this temperate rain forest zone. Ironically there are  also three main tribal groups on Vancouver Island My people the Nuu-chah-nulth of the west coast, The Coast Salish of the Southern and eastern side of Van Isle, and the Kwakwaka’wakw of the northern and eastern side of Van Isle. As much as I would like massive urban centers let us Islanders instead allow for nature to be natural. The world needs these great predators and even though there are similar species scattered all over the world, lets keep Vancouver Island as unique as it has always been. Lets protect the island for the benefit of all its inhabitants and for all time. protect it for the next Seven Generations.