Wildlife, Banff National Park

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If you spend any time whatsoever inside the park you will be bound to run into something. The park is absolutely teeming with elk, sheep, deer, and bear. i also came across a coyote but he was too quick to snap a shot of.Please respect the fact that these are wild animals and we are encroaching on their home so observe, but from a safe distance and under no circumstances should you ever feed the animals.

Animals can be around every corner. This group of goats decided that this bridge would be a great temporary home. Luckily you can usually tell there are animals nearby by the amount of parked cars taking pictures.

There are many opportunities for viewing wildlife in Banff National Park. We saw a grizzly bear along the Icefields Parkway, as well as a pair of coyote cubs. Near town there is a Buffalo Paddock where you can drive your car very close to these large beasts. You will also encounter mule deer, elk, bighorn sheep and perhaps a pika as I did along one of my hikes.

The best time to view animals is early morning or late afternoon when they are most active. Remember to never approach a wild animal, use your zoom lens to get that perfect shot.

Most traffic jams I saw in Banff National Park were caused by wildlife. Sometimes tourists park in the middle of road to photograph animals. Sometimes animals block the road just doing what they do. Be gentle with them, but don't feed or disturb them.

Generally speaking, bighorn, mountain goats, dear, or even elks are mild-tempered. But it's not an invitation for you to pet them. Besides, they may go mad during mating season and you wouldn't know. One time I saw parents posing their toddler in front of mountain goats for a picture. The unexpected, sudden moves of the child disturbed the animals, creating dangerous situation for both human and wildlife.

I always get so excited the first time that I see wildlife in a new place that I immediately get busy shooting photos like mad, thinking that this will assuredly be my only opportunity to see this particular type of animal. Therefore, I end up with some not so great shots which primarily feature the animals rear-quarters.

Look for the better wildlife shots under local customs.

In the Rockies there is plenty of wildlife to be discovered. These animals are wild so your chance is hit-and-miss (not literally). One of the places you are almost guaranteed to see some wildlife is Lake Minnewanka and Two Jack Lake where bighorn sheep roams. It's just 10 km north of Banff townsite and more popular to locals than to tourists. Be careful where you park. If you pull over in the middle of the road, you are likely to be yelled at by the locals who are not as amazed by the wildlife as you are.

In Banff National Park wildlife has the right of way. They don't follow traffic signs or signals. The photo was taken near Lake Minnewanka, where 3 bighorn wandered in the middle of the road for 20 min, blocking traffic on both sides. Even the fearless Harley riders had to stop and wait. After all, who wants to butt head with bighorn?

Well there was definate some activity here , these two little ones were pretty frisky , rolling around ,way up this summit, I was delightfull to see these two little groundsquirrels playing around.This sure makes a day complete.

Lake Minnewanka is on the other side of the Trans-Canada highway from town. It's a popular recreational area with not only breathtaking view but which will give you a good chance of running into wildlife (actually that's true all over Banff, but I got lucky not once but twice near Lake Minnewanka).

If you want to see the wildlife in Canada's No1 park miss out the highway 1 and take a trip on the Bow Valley Park way a lesser travelled route avoiding the masses tbc