Penguin picnic area

Currently, more suitable for penguins than picnics!

Have you seen ... the Gatineau Seal?

We are very lucky to have a place like Gatineau Park so close by. A great place in the summer for hiking, biking and cooling off in some beautiful lakes and in the winter a wide variety of ski and snowshoe trails: both on the parkways and in the woods. It is also home to a wide variety of wildlife. I myself have seen plenty of deer, all sorts of birds and a saw beaver couple frollicking in their pond. I know people who have crossed paths with bears. I believe that there are packs of coyotes as well as wolves and even a mountain lion was once spotted crossing the Fortune Lake parkway. Many of these animals are shy and prefer to avoid contact with the humans who visit their "neighborhood".

None, however is as reclusive and rarely seen as the Gatineau Seal. The Gatineau Seal is a solitary and slow moving creature. So slow in fact that you would swear it hadn't moved at all. It keeps a stony silence and you would not notice it unless you happen to be looking up at the right time and in the right direction. I have only ever seen one in the winter time so I don't know where it hides its snowy white coat in the summer months. It has a hypnotic stare and I have yet to stare long enough to see it blink. I first saw one a few winters ago near P16 and saw a slightly larger one on the parkway near P1.

If you are lucky you might see one next time you are out on the trails. Hey, Mr. Seal, You rock!