Mammals of the Happy Valley Forest
White-tailed deer thrive in Happy Valley Forest wintering in the Hemlock areas of relatively less snow. (Photo by Dean Mullin)
In the wintertime the mammals are the most conspicuous form of life in the forest. The largest is the white-tailed deer, of which as many as nine have appeared below our feeder. Squirrels are the commonest mammal, with the black and its colour...
The Hunger Games' new Tributes (of nature)
Grizzly bear (Painting by David Arrigo) represents one of the several Canadian animals you can sponsor this holiday season.
Welcome to the Nature Conservancy of Canada's (NCC’s) Hunger Games! This year there are six tributes battling it out for Canada’s pledges. In honour of the underground District, here are 13 tweetable facts about NCC’s annual...
Bats of the Happy Valley Forest region
Little brown myotis (Photo by Brock Fenton)
I’ve had many encounters with bats in the Happy Valley Forest over the years, but perhaps the most memorable was the one day in my practicing years when I was asked to visit on elderly lady at home. Consultants tend to eschew house-calls.As...
Return of North America's tiniest fox
Swift fox cub and its mum (Photo by Catriona Matheson, Cochrane Ecological Institute)
Foxes are a part of most people’s lives, whether in fairy tales, as a figure of speech or as a part of the landscape. They are found in cities, in the countryside and in wildernesses of forest, desert and ice. The strange link between...
Tailing biologists on a local "bat blitz" near Osoyoos
The big ears, strong bite and honey-coloured downy fur make this rare male pallid bat distinctive. (Photo by Richard McGuire)
It’s Sunday afternoon and I have a date with a large group of biologists conducting a bat blitz at the Sage and Sparrow Conservation area [in BC's Okanagan region]. The forecast is calling for a severe thunderstorm, but I have no way to...
Stories from the forest floor
Joanna Hudgins, NCC summer intern, cheerfully collecting bones (Photo by Claire Elliott/NCC staff)
As a child, I was dogged by an unfortunate desire to pick up all kinds of things in the woods that were deemed inappropriate by adults. I never did understand what was dirty about a bone or a feather. They were fascinating, especially if you could...
My (grizzly) neighbours - Part Two
Grizzly bears attempt to corner a horse.
If you followed Part One of my grizzly bear chronicle, you'll know my motto to, "never leave the house without a camera." Over the years, I've captured many images, too many for a single posting so I have singled out bears as being the most...
Love is in the air
Swift fox (Photo by Clio Smeeton)
Now is the time of year when, as the old song goes, "A young man's fancy lightly turns to love." When it comes to swift foxes, their hearts definitely do. The female swift fox, or vixen, holds court in her den while her suitors, dog foxes, come...
La petite chauve-souris brune : mon animal canadien favori
Little brown myotis (Photo Ann Froschauer/USFWS)
La petite chauve-souris brune est un mammifère insectivore vivant dans l’ensemble de l’Amérique du Nord et présente dans toutes les provinces du Canada. Bien que nocturne, elle peut être très active...
Le petit polatouche : mon animal canadien favori
Southern flying squirrel (Photo by Judy Frederick)
Le petit polatouche est un mammifère nocturne, vivant au Québec et en Ontario, principalement autour des grands lacs. Petit rongeur semblable à l’écureuil, il est très à l’aise dans les arbres...
