Babes in the Woods
Meet some of the most adorable animals in the Canadian wilderness
By ChloË lai
Above: If you hear
a high-pitched
whistling sound in the
woods, it might be a
cougar cub calling its
mother
Right: The ultimate
one-stop snuggle
shop, female
mountain goats
sport lush beard-like
“goatees,” just
like their male
counterparts
Cougar Cubs
Leopards can’t change their spots, but cougars
can—kind of. newborn cubs’ soft fur is dotted
with dark spots, their tiny tails lined with rings.
Within nine months, these markings fade to a
sleek grey- or reddish-brown. Their eyes change
too: the innocent baby-blues of kittenhood
become the piercing yellow gaze of adulthood.
These purr-balls weigh just one pound at
birth, and usually show up in pairs or trios
during late winter or early spring. Despite their
pint-sized start, cougars eventually weigh 45 to
57 kg (100 to 125 lb), making them more than
twice the size of Canada’s other wildcats.
The first six weeks are spent snuggling with
their moms in the rocky den; at seven weeks,
cubs tag along to visit food caches. This is the
most social period of their lives: two years later,
the stealthy young cats leave home to establish
their own territories, and keep to themselves
until it’s time to have cubs of their own.
12 Rocky Mountaineer Magazine 2018
Mountain Goat Kids
When it comes to defying gravity, these
sure-footed sweethearts don’t kid around.
Born in May and June, mountain goat kids are
in full romp-and-play mode after just 10 days,
their cloven hooves helping them navigate
impossibly narrow ledges and steep rocky
slopes. Once fully grown, they’re able to leap
3.5 m (11.5 ft) without a second thought. The
challenging terrain keeps “nurseries”—herds
made up of nanny goats and their kids—safe
from predators like cougars and bears.
newborns weigh just 2 to 3 kg (4.5 to 7 lb)
but seem larger thanks to thick white woolly
overcoats. Kids and nannies traipse down into
the valleys to visit mineral licks that supplement
their daily diet of grasses and alpine greens.
glimpse these fluffy families at the Mount
Kerkeslin “goat Lick” viewpoint in the icefields
Parkway region, and the mineral lick on
Highway 93 in Kootenay national Park.