Grouse or Grou-chicken? B.C Wildlife as Friendly as it’s People

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I’m a firm believer that if you get up early enough in the morning adventure will find you.  

I wandered outside today, coffee in hand to see if the snow had receded after yesterdays storm.

I’m fretting, pouting a little actually when around the corner of my house comes this very large bird, which I supposed was a Grouse. It was squawking and flapping and ran right over to me and squatted at my feet!

It let me pet it, pick it up, put it down, run in the house and grab my camera and sat nicely while I shot it.

I did think about shooting it, I love grouse, but it was so damn friendly and I am becoming an old softy!

It stayed with me for a good half hour before it decided to take a break under my old retired Buick, at which point I came in to Google it.

Seems we have six or so species of grouse here in British Columbia – most with red, orange, yellow or green around the eyes; none with blue that I could find.

It also didn’t have feathered legs which is unusual and, they don’t let you touch them.

Can Chickens and Grouse breed? Because although it resembled a Grouse it had huge legs and feet like a big old Rooster, and an excessively large beak!

Imagine the biggest Grouse you have ever seen and multiple that by three!

Ah, yes, life in B.C. Always some animal to keep you company!

One morning while living in the Kootenays and enjoying my morning coffee on my deck, a little bunny came from one side of the house and a baby fawn from the other. They met in the middle of my lawn and actually touched noses – a very Bambi experience indeed!

The next day, on the same deck, a freakin’ grizzly came crawling out from under. I could hear this rustle and rumble under my chair, as I peeked over the edge, this hairy monstrosity kind of rolled out from the tight squeeze.

It didn’t see me,  I waited for a bit then yelled and clapped my hands. I scared the poor thing, and then I felt bad as it bolted.

It never truly left though, it used to watch me from the edge of the bush as I weeded my garden. Sometimes it would stand up, grumble a bit and shake it’s head, then wander out of sight.

It was a sow, and it made me nervous. My partner used to feed it so it wasn’t too afraid.

A few days ago, two Moose, a cow and last years calf met me over a snow bank in my yard. I whistled, and if you can believe it, they came toward me and stopped about 20 feet short. They weren’t afraid of me or the dogs. Happy friendly and curious. I must have been Dr. Doolittle in a previous life …

It makes no difference if you are in a B.C. city or the country – two days ago a moose was discovered inside of a Smithers, B.C. Safeway grocery store!

Tip of the day; always keep your camera at hand while having your morning coffee in British Columbia because it seems B.C. Wildlife, are as friendly and adventure driven as it’s people!

For another slideshow of  B.C. Wildlife click here.

UPDATE!!!! It turns out this bird is a Himalayan Monal Pheasant!! Not indigenous to this area, but Pakistan, Afghanistan through the Himalayas including Kashmir region of Northern Pakistan, India (states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh), Nepal, southern Tibet andBhutan. There is also a report of its occurrence in Burma.

 UPDATE #2 – I named her Rebecca and she has now found a new home! Thank you to all for your help! Yay!

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