When you trek into the Canadian wilderness for an unplugged adventure, you might not run across many other people, but you can be sure you’ll see some local wildlife on your journey! If you’re staying with us this summer at one of our three glamping locations, brush up on your knowledge of the local fauna before you arrive! If your kids love a good scavenger hunt, you can make it a game and look for these local critters and wildlife at Buffalo Pound Lake, Castle Provincial Park and Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park!
Buffalo Pound Lake
When you travel near a body of water, you can always find plenty of birds, fish and other animals that make their homes close to one of their primary needs. Buffalo Pound Lake is home to many varieties of swallows, sparrows, several warblers and corvids, and common birds we see all the time, such as the American Robin. Watch for the American White Pelican as these clever birds will work together when feeding! A team of synchronized swimmers of the bird world, American White Pelicans will coordinate where and when they dive to push fish into shallow waters for them to take turns feasting easily on the cornered fish. They can commonly be seen napping, floating and frequenting the shores. While you’re around the water, you might spy a beaver, a painted turtle or a family of Canadian Geese. When hiking on the fantastic trails around Buffalo Pound Lake, look for mule and white-tailed deer, chipmunks, mountain cottontail rabbits, downy woodpeckers and even American bison! Please remember that no matter what animal you may come across, do not approach them!
Castle Provincial Park
You’ll find many of the aforementioned animals in Castle Provincial Park, but there are some big differences! Where Buffalo Pound Lake is a prairie wetland, Castle Provincial Park is mountainous and much more rugged. Here, you’ll find the larger mountain animals like elk, grizzly bears, black bears, gray wolves, moose, mountain lions or badgers. Did you know that Castle Provincial Park is a migratory corridor for numerous species of animals? This means a lot of animal life moves through the park! Other fauna you might see include striped skunks, American red squirrels, golden eagles, mountain chickadees, trumpeter swans, red foxes or even a bald eagle! When you go hiking around the park, we highly recommend bringing bear bells and bear spray, just in case! Remember that animals need their space!
Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park
Lake Diefenbaker slices through Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park as it weaves its way across the province and on the northern shore just east of Highway 4 is our cozy little glamping resort. The wildlife around the resort consists of waterfowl, smaller mammals like beavers and muskrats and the animals that thrive in wide open prairies, such as thirteen-lined ground squirrels and several varieties of garter snakes. In the waters itself, the lake is home to brown trout, rainbow trout, walleye, north pike and goldeye, making it a popular fishing area for us and the critters! American White Pelicans can be found here too, as well as Canadian geese, mountain cottontails, downy woodpeckers, beavers, muskrats and Great Egrets. If you happen to be out watching the stars at night, listen for Great Horned Owls!
We encourage you to explore the area around our glamping resorts as there are some incredible examples of flora and fauna to be found! Whether you stay with us at Castle Provincial Park, Buffalo Pound Lake or Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park, please educate your kids to always give wild animals their space. Just like we don’t appreciate someone breaking into our home and harassing us, let’s offer the same respect to our animal friends! We can’t wait to have you stay with us, book with us this summer!