Medicine Wheels
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Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park is a natural park in Canada straddling the Alberta / Saskatchewan boundary and jointly administered by the two provinces. Located south-east of Medicine Hat, it became Canada's first interprovincial park in 1989.
The park protects the majority of the Cypress Hills landscape, which consists of three separate elevated blocks of lush forest and fescue grassland surrounded by dry mixed-grass prairie. The "west block" and "centre block" are protected as provincial parks, and are managed by Alberta Parks and Protected Areas and Saskatchewan Parks, respectively.
The Cypress Hills plateau rises up to 200 metres above the surrounding prairie, to a maximum elevation of 1,468 metres at "Head of the Mountain" at the west end in Alberta, making it Canada's highest point between the Canadian Rockies and the Labrador Peninsula. The "West Block" of the Cypress Hills spans the provincial boundary. Battle Creek runs through the central part of the park.
Approximately 700 species of plants and animals thrive in the park, including 14 species of orchids; four species of large hoofed mammals (Wapiti, Mule Deer, White-tailed Deer, and Pronghorn); 45 other species of mammal; and many birds species. .(wikipedia)
Cypress Hills Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada. August 2008.
Medicine Lake - This intriguing lake is a place of mystery and Indian legend. Due to a unique underground drainage system, the water level of the lake varies from season to season … sometimes it actually disappears! Every fall this lake mysteriously drains. What makes Medicine Lake unusual is that there is no visible channel for draining the lake – so where does the water go? The answer is, “out the bottom,” like a bathtub without a plug. Early Indians once thought that “spirits” were responsible for the dramatic fluctuations in the placid waters. Interpretive exhibits explain the phenomenon but nobody knows for sure where all of the water goes.
During the 1970s researchers used a biodegradable dye to determine the underground river's extent. The dye showed up in many of the lakes and rivers in the area to the point where it became clear that the underground system was one of the most extensive in the world.
Medicine Lake was long, most part of the lake was dry, people walked on the lake to catch the fishes... this was the "deepest" part of the lake. The photo was taken at sunset with reflection of the mountain on the lake, the golden light painted the mountains beautifully!
Glacier Park's Two Medicine Lake shrinks and almost disappears as I climb up the Scenic Point trail. I was the first hiker on the trail this morning. The bottom of the trail is forest, following along Appistoki creek, and it's pretty waterfalls. After a continual 2400 foot climb I could look both East and West. The winds were horrendous, some of the worst I've experienced when hiking. They shut down this trail occasionally when the winds are unsafe. Best to get an early start, as the winds pick up as the sun moves west. Highly recommended when in the Two Medicine area.
Looking down on Pray Lake to the right near the campground with Two Medicine Lake sitting between Mt. Sinopah and Rising Wolf mountain. Doesn't look like it but Two Medicine Lake is approximately 2 miles long and .33 miles wide.
Your views, comments, faves and suggestions are always appreciated.
The Indian pangolin, thick-tailed pangolin, or scaly anteater (Manis crassicaudata) is a pangolin found on the Indian subcontinent. It is not common anywhere in its range. Like other pangolins, it has large, overlapping scales on its body which act as armour. It can also curl itself into a ball as self-defence against predators such as the tiger. The colour of its scales varies depending on the colour of the earth in its surroundings.
It is an insectivore, feeding on ants and termites, digging them out of mounds and logs using its long claws, which are as long as its fore limbs. It is nocturnal and rests in deep burrows during the day.
The Indian pangolin is threatened by hunting for its meat and for various body parts used in traditional medicine.
The Indian pangolin is a solitary, shy, slow-moving, nocturnal mammal. It is about 84–122 centimetres (33–48 in) long from head to tail, the tail usually being 33–47 cm long, and weighs 10–16 kg. Females are generally smaller than the males and have one pair of mammae. The pangolin possesses a cone-shaped head with small, dark eyes, and a long muzzle with a nose pad similar in color, or darker than, its pinkish-brown skin. It has powerful limbs, tipped with sharp, clawed digits. It is an almost exclusive insectivore and principally subsists on ants and termites, which it catches with a specially adapted long, sticky tongue.The pangolin has no teeth, but has strong stomach muscles to aid in digestion. The most noticeable characteristic of the pangolin is its massive, scaled armour, which covers its upper face and its whole body with the exception of the belly and the inside of the legs. These protective scales are rigid and made of keratin. It has 160–200 scales in total, about 40–46% of which are located on the tail. Scales can be 6.5–7 cm long, 8.5 cm wide, and weigh 7–10 grams. The skin and scales make up about one-fourth to one-third of the total body mass of this species.
The Indian pangolin has been recorded from various forest types, including Sri Lankan rainforest and plains to middle hill levels. The animal can be found in grasslands and secondary forests, and is well adapted to desert regions as it is believed to have a tolerance to dry areas, but prefers more barren, hilly regions. This pangolin species may also sometimes reach high elevations, and has been sighted in Sri Lanka at 1100 meters and in the Nilgiri mountains in India at 2300 meters. It prefers soft and semi-sandy soil conditions suitable for digging burrows.
Pangolin burrows fall into one of two categories: feeding and living burrows. Feeding burrows are smaller than living burrows (though their sizes vary depending on the abundance of prey) and are created more frequently during the spring, when there is a greater availability of prey. Living burrows are wider, deeper, and more circular, and are occupied for a longer time than feeding burrows, as they are mainly used to sleep and rest during the day. After a few months, the pangolin abandons the burrow and digs a new one close to a food source. However, it is not uncommon for the pangolin to shift back to an old burrow.
Unlike its African counterpart, the Indian pangolin does not climb trees, but it does value the presence of trees, herbs, and shrubs in its habitat because it is easier to dig burrows around them. Features that promote an abundance of ants and termites (grasses, bare grounds, bases of trees, shrubs, roots, leaf litter, fallen logs and elephant feces) are often present in pangolin habitats.
Few details are known about the breeding behaviour of the Indian pangolin. During the animal's mating period, females and males may share the same burrow and show some diurnal activities. Males have testes in a fold of the skin located in their groin areas. The female's embryo develops in one of the uterine horns. The gestation period lasts 65–70 days; the placenta is diffuse and not deciduate. Usually, a single young is born, but twins have been reported in this species. The young weigh 235–400 g at birth and measure roughly 30 cm. The newborn animals have open eyes, and soft scales with protruding hairs between them. The mother pangolin carries her young on her tail. When the mother and young are disturbed, the young pangolin is held against its mother's belly and protected by the mother's tail.