'We were floored, shocked and amazed': lynx family makes appearance in Whiteshell Provincial Park

It was a sight decades in the making for long-time Whiteshell area residents Allison and her husband.

Four young lynx crossed the road in front of their truck without a care in the world as the new owners of Nutimik Lodge were out for a drive last week taking a tour around Betula Lake.

“Out of the corner of our eye we saw one of the lynx and then that’s when we noticed there were three more that were in the bush, so we just kind of hunkered down in the truck and pulled out our video camera,” said Allison.

The family sighting was quite rare. Allison said in her 36 years of living in the area she had never seen anything like it. Her husband adds another 16 years with no cat sightings.

Prior to heading out that day, the couple joked about a lynx encounter. There had been a couple of recent sightings in the area with pictures posted to social media, but those had been larger animals.

“It was right around the same time so I wondered if we’ll see it, you know just kind of chuckling, because the chances of that were so slim and that’s when we ended up noticing the cubs,” Allison said.

“We were floored, shocked and amazed by it. Beautiful animals they are.”

Allison guesses the lynx were about a year old judging by their size, which she described as just over knee height and she is about five-foot-four.

The animals did not seem perturbed by their human company. In fact, Allison said one took a seat on a snowbank and just stared while the others appeared from the bush and moseyed on down the road.

Their truck followed slowly behind.

“They got back up on the snowbanks there and stared at us some more, and just kind of followed along beside the truck and it was just very amazing to see it,” said Allison.

Manitoba Conservation said lynx encounters are rare as they typically prefer to avoid people.

Although the animals are not known to be aggressive, approaching or running away from the animal could provoke a defensive or chase response. It is advised a person stand tall while facing the lynx and slowly back away.

If the animal approaches, Conservation said be loud and large to scare the animal away and use any deterrents you may be carrying.

So far, no one else has seen the young lynx family but images have captured what could be the mom or dad wandering around Betula Lake.