Pretty Kitty

Early one cool, misty morning while driving through Kananaskis Country near Banff, we stopped along the roadside to watch two young bucks sparring in a meadow. They pushed and twisted their antlers together, practicing their future battles, and we sat there laughing quietly at their playful antics. 

It had rained heavily through the night, leaving the morning damp and fresh. The forest smelled of wet earth and pine, and the world felt calm and hushed.

Suddenly, one of the bucks wandered toward a patch of bushes at the edge of the meadow. He leaned forward and peered inside. In an instant his posture changed - he snorted sharply, stomped his hoof, then sprang backwards and bolted in the opposite direction.

That’s when we saw why.

Out from the bushes stepped one of the most elusive animals of the Canadian wilderness - a magnificent lynx.

It must have been curled up there the entire time, quietly sleeping while the young deer played nearby. Completely unbothered, the lynx slowly strolled out into the open. Like any cat, it paused to stretch and yawn, giving us just enough time to capture this wonderful photograph before calmly turning and wandering back into the forest.

It never once showed the slightest interest in us… or the deer.

In many Indigenous traditions, the lynx is known as the “Keeper of Secrets,” a mysterious guardian believed to see and hear what others cannot. A symbol of hidden knowledge and quiet awareness.

If that is true, then perhaps this lynx knew exactly how humbled we felt in that moment - standing quietly in the presence of such a rare and solitary creature.

Encounters like this remind us that nature always holds secrets… and when we are lucky enough to witness them, the memory stays with us forever.            

- Keltie Masters

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