Historical Lens Historical Lens PERSPECTIVE My Whiteway therapy

Dear Editor:

I’ve been on the Whiteway a lot this winter. As I was contemplating life one day, it occurred to me that the Whiteway is a lot like life. Skating along, maneuvering and adjusting to the many obstacles and changing conditions along the way. Do I slow down and think about my next move or do I blindly skate over the bumps and cracks and hope for the best? I know as I skate along that the imperfections will be there for my entire journey, so I’d better learn to live with

This occurrence was something she hadn’t encountered before. “We’re always in the bush - my husband and I. I’m always... a bit cautious. I find that they (wildlife) usually go away - they don’t keep approaching.”

But this coyote did.

“I didn’t think it would come this close to me,” she said, estimating it was about six metres away. “It was pretty close when you’re in the middle of the lake on your own.” The coyote’s behaviour was confusing - Dziwenka said it didn’t present aggression, but it kept heading toward her and Gaugey’s way. Gaugey was barking, but only in intervals.

Many scenarios ran through her head about why the coyote didn’t turn around and head back to shore. “I was playing frisbee with the dog - maybe it was curious,” she hypothesized. “It seemed more curious to me, or it wanted food. I was thinking it was a fed coyote.”

The out-of-the-norm scenario caught the attention of a couple of folks on the south side of the lake.

“We saw a woman in the distance with a dog; the dog seemed to be a little worked up,” said Heather Van Riesen, in her van with a friend. “We saw another animal approach them. We drove out there, (said) ’That’s a coyote.’”

The friends asked Dziwenka if she needed help. “She said yes. We drove behind them. The cracks and occasional booms don’t bother me so much when I see the beauty of the mountains surrounding me and hear the stillness of the air. My rhythmic skating is almost like a pulse. So what could be better than some physical exercise while in a meditative state? Seems like an oxymoron but I sure feel good when my Whiteway therapy is done for the day!

Judy Brunette, Chestermere/Invermere, B.C.

(the coyote)…steered it back to the shore. Then we drove back to Lisa and asked if she would like a ride back to her vehicle, which she did.”

They all drove to the south shoreline, where Dziwenka’s vehicle was parked.

Dziwenka didn’t look back after getting in the van; she was happy to get out of there.”I was a little bit shaken up afterward,” she said. “This isn’t normal behaviour for a wild animal.” She wondered what would have happened if, for example, it had been “eight or nine year old kids skating by themselves” and had a coyote approach them.

That ponderance is exacerbated by what Van Riesen saw just after she dropped Dziwenka off. “We saw the coyote approaching the skating rink on the lake below Akiskinook Resort. It was approaching a group of people on the skating rink. We went over there in the van and intercepted it before it got to the skating rink, and pushed it back to the shore. Then we told those people we thought they should leave, and they did leave.”

Like Dziwenka, Van Riesen is confounded by the coyote’s behaviour, and said she has “no clue” as to why it kept approaching people.

Dziwenka urges everyone to be careful with wildlife. “We’re in an area where we have to be more careful - not feeding these animals, being more aware of (their) surroundings. I feel the food factor is there - I think this animal had been fed before.”