NOTRE-DAME-DE-BONSECOURS, Canada—The neighbours can be dangerous here. On the upside, they dance for carrots.
Two rows of tall fence keep these black bears out of arm’s reach. Not so for the deer and caribou. Also fond of carrots, they can all but jump in your car as you roll through their yard.
Some of Canada’s most iconic animals live here, and visitors can get close enough to feel the soft velvet on an elk’s antlers. And thanks to bags of carrots you can buy for the grocery store price of $2.50 (2 pounds), you’ll have exactly what they’re looking for.
The wolves and coyotes aren’t interested in colourful vegetables, except the orphaned puppy timber wolf. He happily gnawed on one while we gave him a belly rub.
It’s an experience to tell friends about, and now a lucky few visitors can spend the night. Omega owner Olivier Favre works to keep the rustic natural appeal of the park, but is always adding to it with new animals, shows, and now, five places to spend the night—Swiss Family Robinson style.
See the full collection of wildlife photos from Parc Omega
The most luxurious is a two-room hut on stilts perched over a rocky outcrop. A cross between a tree house and a tropical hut, it’s built using fitted timbers and has a synthetic thatched roof, made from polyethylene manufactured in Quebec that looks real until you touch it.
There are also two prospector tents built on platforms with log walls beneath a white canvas roof. Two yurt-style abodes weren’t on display, but all the habitats for humans are nearing completion. Over a hundred curious visitors are already hoping to book a night, said staff member Karina Lavictoire.
Those who do will have that much more time to explore Omega. Even Canadians who consider themselves outdoor enthusiasts wouldn’t likely come within grasp of a six-foot elk, let alone have it stick its nose in your face in hopes of treats.
Exploring the Wild, Minus the Risk
It can take hours to drive your car through the expanse of the park, with frequent stops to share a moment with its hosts, many with formidable antlers that stand much taller than you.
There are walking tours through parts, as well as trails and picnic areas. New additions this year also include an authentic reproduction of a trading post and three muskoxen, still kept apart in their own fenced enclosure and under study, though easy to spot from the road that winds through the park.
Favre could probably grab more cash from visitors with a carousel or higher margins on his carrots, but that’s not what Omega is about. He doesn’t want an amusement park, he told Epoch Times. He wants the environment as pure as possible for the animals, and for guests to have the opportunity to experience the wild in its truest form, minus the risk.
For the price of admission, which ranges from $9 for children to $23 for adults, depending on the season, visitors can spend the day. Bring a lunch and enjoy it in one of the picnic areas. There is ice cream but the restaurant offerings are slim, though the gift shop does have a variety of quality souvenirs ranging from key chains to stuffed animals and hand-carved bison horns.
Enclosed golf carts are available for $25/hour if you arrived via motorcycle or want to give your tween a chance to drive. A camera is a must so you can capture all your own National Geographic-quality pictures to show your friends and family.
Canada’s Wilderness Icons
While every corner offers a new vista or close encounter with normally aloof icons on Canada’s wilderness, the baby animals are a definite highlight. Fortunately, they are everywhere, an indication the animals here are relatively content. They are even keen to visit during the day before enjoying their privacy after 6 p.m.
Bambies are bountiful, as are wild boar piglets, one of the few immigrants here. There are majestic moose, including one who is best friends with a goat, and prehistoric-looking bison.
If the time is right you will also see busy beavers in a beautiful lake or raccoons sitting out in their tree house feeders.
It’s a good place to go slow. When we slowed down, a herd of reindeer made a public appearance, emerging from a forest. And as we paused to watch them, the new muskoxen climbed up from a bush line and then pushed each other around a bit to figure out who was boss. Fun fact: Musk oxen are a type of goat, and they look like it.
The scenery itself is also impressive, especially the open grassland where the bison roam. Be warned of the grumpy one, we were told. If his tail twitches and he starts to grunt, best to keep rolling along.
Bison herds are of one mind, our guide tells us. If one gets upset and starts running, the others will automatically follow without even knowing the reason, and if the one suddenly stops, they will all stop and go back to grazing as if nothing ever happened.
At Close Range
Seeing the animals at such close range is an education. Distinctions are clear, like size and shape of antlers and the different demeanour of moose, caribou, and the alpine ibex with its over-sized horns and alien-like pupils (you’ll see what I mean when you get there).
The trading post is reminiscent of the 16th and 17th centuries, where you can listen to tales of trade and travel and see the hides and guns that passed hands during barter. In this area of the park, gentle white-tail deer eat right out of toddlers’ hands.
Not all the animals can roam freely. The arctic wolves have their own area where the alpha male lies perched on the highest point of the hillside overlooking its pack of about a dozen.
Its fellow snowy white members, pups included, follow suit, assuming their positions along the hillside, curiously watching the people drive by on the other side of the discreet wire fence that keeps them from animals that might otherwise be dinner.
Arctic foxes, bears, and coyotes also have their own areas, and are on their best behaviour, coming out to the visible areas of their range to show off their rarely seen visage, seemingly happy to flaunt what they got.
You can watch a mama coyote tussle her cub, which rolls on its back and reaches out playfully with its paw, or nearby, a big black bear comes out of the shade to perch on a big rock as if to say hi. Some of its brethen will stand on two legs for visitors who yell “Up” and offer a treat.
A highlight of the trip was a visit to the loneliest part of the park—the orphanage. A lone keeper, Azalee Gaudreau, watches over piglets, baby raccoons, and an orphaned timber wolf pup. The wolf pup, as a potential future competitor to the alpha male of its pack, would be in danger if returned to the pack without its mother.
Gaudreau let the pup out of his cage for a bit, and though it will be a fearsome predator in a few months, today he is still a puppy and hungry for affection. A belly rub, a tussle behind the ears— it’s a memory for a lifetime and it could only happen here.
Please visit www.ParcOmega.ca for more information.
