008 Life in a Rut, Fall Hikes, Dark Skies and Canada's National Bird

Story 1 - Life In a Rut Now that September has arrived, thoughts will be turning to romance in the local elk population. The antlers that have been covered in velvet since late-April are now beginning to peel as the blood supply is cut off to the velvet. Big bulls, properly called stags will begin to rub the antlers against trees to get rid of the itchy skin as the velvet dies. At the same time, they'll get more standoffish with other males and begin to collecting the cows, or hinds, into a harem. The strategy of the elk is not one guy, one girl, its one guy and all the girls! Story 2 - Famous Fall Hikes This story looks at some of the great places for fall colours in the Canadian Rockies - and in particular, the autumn golds of the alpine larch. We look at several trails and the important information for getting the most out of your autumn hiking experience. In particular, we talk about the following walks: Larch Valley and Sentinel Pass in Banff National Park Sunshine Meadows as well as Healy Pass, also in Banff Burstall Pass and Chester Lake in Alberta's Kananaskis Country. Story 3 - Jasper's Dark Sky Festival In many places in the world, the opportunity to see the milky way has been thwarted by urban light pollution. Jasper is one of the largest dark sky preserves on the planet. This year, between October 14 and 23, they'll be hosting the Jasper Dark Sky Festival. Of particular note are presentations by Bill Nye the Science Guy and George Takei of Star Trek fame. For more information visit www.jasperdarksky.travel. Story 4 - Canada's National Bird Believe it or not, Canada does NOT have a national bird. The Royal Canadian Geographic Society is looking to change this and we'll look into their efforts to find the most Canadian of birds.