Gopher spotting

Very British weather here today - damp and grey, but at least the rain held off for my first trip out on the prairie this week.

Yesterday I went up to 'Excon' the exercise control centre about half an hour's drive into the wilderness. I was there to record a radio feature about the laser equipment that is used during the training exercises at Suffield. It's rather clever and works like a very large, expensive game of laser tag, with every man and vehicle marked with a laser receiver that can tell if and how badly it's been hit.

Excon is also home to the tamest gophers I have met in Canada! My colleague Martha was taking close up photos of them when this rather cheeky individual stopped to inspect the quality of her photographs... and see if she had any more biscuits!

I'm out on the prairie again on Friday in pursuit of wildlife and based on what we saw yesterday, including elk and antelope, I'm hoping to have some great photos for you by the end of the week and you'll be able to hear the results of both trips on our Best Of Canada podcast, just click on the link on the right.