The Lynx

In early October I thought I'd take a drive over to Argentia and see if I remembered where the Silver Mine was located.

My favorite view - The Isaacs

Any time you can get a view of The Isaacs is a good day, and that golden hour before sunset on an early fall evening can't be beat either.

 I kept an eye out for blueberry patches, and while I found a small patch that had been unpicked in September I wouldn't say it was a blueberry picking destination.

 But that's okay, because as usual I was running out of daylight and wanted to find the side path to the Silver Mine while I could still see well.

I was a little unsure I'd picked the right spot at first, but was rewarded for my efforts in the end.

No time to go down and poke around on that day, but I intend to go back in the spring and start cutting a good path out to the water through the overgrown trees alongside the stream.  You know, before fly season begins!

After I got in my car and started driving back out I met up with a lynx on the side of the road! (Of course, only an iPhone, that's always how it is!)  Everyone got in a tizzy that I hike out there alone with wild animals like that on the loose but Mr. Lynx has little reason to be interested in the likes of me as long as there are plenty of snowshoe hares which makes up 75% of their diet.  Newfoundland lynx prefer dense undercover which is why people seldom see them.  In times when hare populations are low they will eat rodents and birds, so I think I might be a bit more than they want to try to take down!  As a hiker who is often on her own I always make sure I know what the local wildlife might consist of and what their behavior is. Mountain lions are something I take seriously but lynx is the biggest cat in Newfoundland to my knowledge so all is good!