How species survive winter: Hibernation
A big brown bat "hanging out." Often when found outside, big brown bats sit in this position on the side of a building, tree or (ideally not) on the ground. (Photo by Sarah Ludlow/NCC)
Previously, I discussed how small songbirds, and black-capped chickadees in particular, survive winter on the Canadian Prairies. Now I will discuss another strategy that animals use to survive the long, cold winter months: hibernation. Hibernation...
Twelve spooky facts about Canadian bats
Townsend's big-eared bat (Photo by Brock Fenton)
There are 18 known bat species in Canada. Although they are subjected to a spooky stigma around Halloween, they’re nothing to be afraid of. Here are 12 things you didn’t know about these not-so-scary mammals: 1. The snooze...
Going batty in BC
Early morning scene of a small town in Transylvania, Romania, while volunteering with Operation Wallacea, Romania chapter. (Photo by Katie Bell)
The moon is full and bright, with fog settled in the valley, making for an eerie view. It is early morning, just before sunrise. I am with a group of volunteers and one biologist. We are on our way back to camp after a two-hour walk around a small...
Tales of recovery: Pronghorn
Pronghorn antelope, Old Man on His Back (Photo by Karol Dabbs)
Ask a Canadian to name the fastest land animal in the world. Even if they have never watched a nature documentary, they probably know it’s the cheetah. But most Canadians don’t know the planet’s second fastest animal, even though...
International Beaver Day
Beaver (Photo by Jason Bantle)
Emily Little is leaving Saskatchewan. In fact, by the time you read this, she will have left already. As part of the tidying up at work that happens when someone winds down their stay and moves on, Emily and I talked about things that should be...
The race against rats: The most successful invasive species in the world
Brown rat (Photo by Dunpharlain, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Everyone has a rat story, except for, maybe, Albertans (the lucky ones); I’ll explain why in a bit. In Hong Kong, where I grew up, rats and mice were collectively called lo shu in Cantonese. The term was probably tossed around by parents to...
You think your relatives are wild? Take a look at nature’s own families
Red colobus monkeys in Jozani forest. Endemic to Zanzibar (Photo by Olivier Lejade, Wikimedia Commons)
With Family Day on the doorstep, what better way to share facts about animals with interesting social structures than with your own tribe? Monkeys have strong family dynamics. Like humans, they spend their lives in large communities or social...
Digging badgers: A close encounter
A badger at its burrow. (Photo by J. Sayers, Ontario Badger Project)
“A badger? On my property? There are no badgers here!” is often the response I got from landowners in southern Ontario during my short stint as a field technician for the Ontario Badger Project. American badgers are difficult to spot;...
A wildly delicious holiday guide
Woodland caribou (Photo by Steve Forrest CC BY-NC 2.0)
It’s that time of year again: the temperatures are geting colder, but our hearts warm with holiday spirit. It’s the season of hot cocoa, snowflakes and family gatherings. However, for some of us, that also means preparing a grand...
Meeting wildlife in the wilds of Cape Breton
Canada lynx (Photo by Shutterstock)
This story was written by Kathryn Morse, as told by Danielle Horne. My work on the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) stewardship team in Nova Scotia means that I spend several months in the field every summer and fall, monitoring...
