Dr. Crayfish, I presume?
Premek Hamr, PhD (a.k.a. Dr. Crayfish) (Photo courtesy of Premek Hamr, PhD)
At the Nature Conservancy of Canada's annual Ontario Region staff meeting last May, a few of us stepped outside to wander the shoreline of Lake Simcoe and admire the sunset. As we rooted around the rocky beach, I took a few photos of plants and...
Hibernation with a hiss
A drawing of a snake (Photo by Darwin Online)
Snakes are such misunderstood creatures. Many people fear them, but that might be because they don’t know how awesome snakes are! Snakes are limbless reptiles with scaly skin. They are very diverse, with different sizes, colours and...
How animals judge distance
Peregrin falcon, BC (Photo by Stuart Clarke)
Animals can jump great distances, dodge predators and catch fast moving prey. How do they do it? They use their binocular vision to judge the distance in a millisecond. The question of how this works came to me from a curious Saskatchewan...
Something's Fishy: A whirlwind of a problem
Whirling disease can cause a severe spinal deformity in infected fish (Photo by Colorado Parks and Wildlife)
As I spend most of my free time outdoors, I’ve been fortunate enough to see many great examples of Canadian nature. I have watched a family of deer feeding by a stream in Alberta, seen tracks of several elusive mammal species, such as...
Top 10 invasive species to stop this summer
Man fishing in New Brunswick (Photo by NCC)
Our Canadian summers are short and fleeting. Warm and sunny days are best spent enjoying the outdoors and connecting with nature. While you are out exploring nature’s wonders, you can also help control the spread of invasive...
When hope flies home: What the recovery of the peregrine falcon teaches us about endangered species
Peregrine falcon, ON (Photo by Brian Ratcliff)
There was a time when I never thought I’d see a peregrine falcon. I grew up in the 1970s, a time when the peregrine falcon was a poster species for wildlife loss. Hinterland Who’s Who told me it was already gone from eastern Canada,...
Something's Fishy: A razor-sharp invader
Zebra mussel (Photo by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
My first encounter with zebra mussels is an experience many Canadians can relate to. It started with searing pain, a yelp and a quick hobble out of the water and up onto a rocky shoreline to examine the bottom of my foot, sliced open ever so...
Sharks? In Canada?
Great white shark (Photo by Terry Goss/Wikimedia Commons)
Do you really know what’s swimming in Canada’s oceans? When most people think of sharks, they usually associate them with tropical environments. However, you may be surprised to learn that Canada’s oceans have a great diversity...
If you build it, they will come: Black bear dens on Vancouver Island
An example of the purpose-built den pods (Photo courtesy of Helen Davis)
For 26 years, I have been captivated by black bears and where they spend their winters. It all started with my masters of science research project in the Nimpkish Valley on Vancouver Island. I’ve been to lots and lots of dens ― usually in...
Bird homes: Location is everything
Juvenile American robin (Photo by Sarah Ludlow/NCC staff)
On May 17, Conservation Volunteers helped install 14 nest boxes on the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s Edenwold property in Saskatchewan. These nest boxes were designed with certain species in mind ― tree swallows and mountain bluebirds....
