Are Black Bears Gluten Free?

Finally the sun has begun to shine in Whistler, everyone’s spirits are lifting and people are beginning to smile again, including our friendly neighbours the Black Bears. We are beginning to have sightings about the valley almost daily; the Momma bears with cubs being my favourite. The other morning at work we actually had a huge male black bear come up to the office, walk around the building and then to out the back. I was so excited; I am surprised I managed to remember to grab my camera!!! Here is the footage…

So are black bears actually Gluten Free? Well, I should think so for the most part. Their preferred food is fruit (especially berries), nuts, plants and insect larvae, however they are known as opportunistic eaters and will often indulge on meat and fish. Unfortunately in some areas they also eat garbage that has not been disposed of correctly. This is a very bad habit for bears to get into it as it means they become more confident with humans and a more likely to come into our areas and be considered a threat. As the saying goes ‘a fed bear is a dead bear!’ In Whistler the Whistler Bear Society has been instrumental in educating the community and tourists on how to properly manage bear attractants. We have bear proof bins on all our sidewalks, weekly write ups in the paper talking about each of our local bears individually and active participation by locals to do everything we can to keep our black bear community happy and healthy.For more information on Black Bears in Whistlersee http://www.bearsmart.com/

 
1 Comment

Let’s Eat Out : Gluten Free

ooh so much news, I just don’t know where to begin!

Since my last post, which I now see was 2 weeks ago, I have managed to have a birthday, have an even bigger birthday party, buy an apartment, move into it and all this whilst working full time and having our busiest week of the year at the office!! Wow I am tired just writing about it.

With being so busy every day, I have not had the usual time to prepare my gluten free meals, and as a result I have been relying heavily on buying my food. The restaurants and café’s below are now my favourite places to eat out, and are extremely helpful when it comes to preparing yummy Gluten Free meals.

Thai Away Home: Vancouver
My absolute favourite Thai food in Canada, and the first place we went to celebrate the buying of our new home. They have a fantastic selection of Gluten Free meals, the penang and yellow curries of course being my favourite. You are also able to buy prepared meals, that you can take home and put in your freezer, to have on those nights when there is just not time to prepare dinner (just what I need!). I also noticed when in Nester’s grocery store the other day, that they also have the Thai Away Home meals in their freezer section, which is great because I now get to enjoy my favourite Thai meals any day of the week.

Trattoria Di Umberto: Whistler
When it came to deciding which restaurant to go to for my birthday, there was no question where I wanted to go. I have been living in Whistler now for over 2 years, and I have heard non-stop rave reviews about Trattoria Di Umberto. Rather than going in a big group, my husband and I decided we would make it a date and have a romantic dinner, just the two of us. It was perfect, the food, the wine, the company. I was able to simply tell our waiter that I required a Gluten Free meal, he was aware of my needs and made the necessary arrangement with the kitchen. For dinner I enjoyed tiger prawns and scallops on a bed of basil pesto risotto with a fresh salad…. Hhmm delicious!

Java at Nesters: Whistler
These guys have been my life savers these past few weeks, making me up delicious Gluten Free grilled sandwiches. I barely even have to mention do clean the grill and keep my food separate from all the wheat products. I always provide my own Gluten Free bun, and this last time they started talking to me about them perhaps making some for me. Bonus!! They are extremely helpful and make a wicked sandwich. A 5 star rating from me.

 
3 Comments