The Canada Goose is a wild goose, which is native to arctic and temperate regions of North America, having a black head and neck, white patches on the face, and a brownish-gray body. It is often called the Canadian Goose, though technically this isn’t its correct name.. being picky that is!

This species is native to North America. It breeds in Canada and the northern United States in a variety of habitats. Its nest is usually located in an elevated area near water such as streams, lakes, ponds and sometimes on a beaver lodge. Its eggs are laid in a shallow depression lined with plant material and down. The Great Lakes region maintains a very large population of Canada Geese.

By the early 20th century, over-hunting and loss of habitat in the late 1800s and early 1900s had resulted in a serious decline in the numbers of this bird in its native range. The Giant Canada Goose subspecies was believed to be extinct in the 1950s until, in 1962, a small flock was discovered wintering in Rochester, Minnesota, by Harold Hanson of the Illinois Natural History Survey. With improved game laws and habitat recreation and preservation programs, their populations have recovered in most of their range, although some local populations, especially of the subspecies occidentalis, may still be declining.

In recent years, Canada Geese populations in some areas have grown substantially, so much so that many consider them pests (for their droppings, the bacteria in their droppings, noise and confrontational behavior). This problem is partially due to the removal of natural predators and an abundance of safe, man-made bodies of water (such as on golf courses, public parks and beaches, and in planned communities).

Contrary to its normal migration routine, large flocks of Canada Geese have established permanent residence in the Chesapeake Bay and in Virginia’s James River regions, and in the Triangle area of North Carolina (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill), and nearby Hillsborough. Some flocks in Canada may even choose not to migrate, even during the winter, if food (such as leftovers from human) is constantly available throughout the season.

So, if they breed in Canada, surely that means they fly to and from Canada to the UK right? We see flocks of them flying around the country at certain points in the year right? Well, the answer is actually no.

Canada Geese have reached northern Europe naturally, as has been proved by ringing recoveries. The birds are of at least the subspecies parvipes, and possibly others. Canada Geese are also found naturally on the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Siberia, eastern China, and throughout Japan. However, these geese were actually introduced into the UK. They were first introduced in Britain in the late 17th century as an addition to King James II’s waterfowl collection in St. James’s Park, their success though proved all too successful and now we find them all over the UK. Greater Canada Geese have also been introduced in Europe, and have established populations in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Scandinavia. Semi-tame feral birds are common in parks, and have become a pest in some areas.

So what about these flocks of birds that form their famous V formations, flying from the pond down your road? Where do they go? The most likely answer is that soon after their young can fly they have moved a short distance to join up with a larger flock nearby.
Many birds, geese included, spend much of the year in large flocks but disperse when they need to find breeding sites an raise their young – your pool is probably ideal for a pair but not suitable for a winter flock.

Most recoveries of ringed Canada Geese in Britain have found that the individuals concerned were within about 30 miles of the place where they were originally caught (although some do move further – including some quite long distance movements within Britain to join moulting flocks, and a few movements to the continent).

So there you have it! The Canada Goose, maybe you’ll spot some of these not so unfamiliar birds while you’re over in Canada yourself!

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In North America, the moose range includes almost all of Canada, most of Alaska, much of New England and upstate New York, the upper Rocky Mountains, Northeastern Minnesota, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Isle Royale in Lake Superior.

All moose are herbivores and are capable of consuming many types of plant or fruit. The average adult moose needs to consume 9,770 calories per day to maintain its body weight. Much of a moose’s energy is derived from terrestrial vegitation, mainly consisting of forbs and other non-grasses, and fresh shoots from trees such as willow and birch. These plants are rather low in sodium, and moose generally need to consume a good quantity of aquatic plants. While much lower in energy, these plants provide the moose with its sodium requirements, and as much as half of their diet usually consists of aquatic plantlife. In winter, moose are often drawn to roadways, to lick salt that is used as a snow and ice melter. A typical moose, weighing 360 kilograms, can eat up to 32kg of food per day.

On average, an adult moose stands 1.8–2.1 m (6–7 ft) high at the shoulder. Males weigh 380–720 kg (850–1580 pounds) and females weigh 270–360 kg (600–800 pounds). Moose are mostly diurnal. They are generally solitary with the strongest bonds between mother and calf. Two individuals can sometimes be found feeding along the same stream.

Mating occurs in September and October. The males are polygamous and will seek several females to breed with. During this times both sexes will call to each other. Males produce heavy grunting sounds that can be heard from up to 500 meters away, while females produce wail-like sounds. Males will fight for access to females. They either assess which is larger, with the smaller bull retreating, or they may engage in battles, usually only involving the antlers.

Female moose have an eight-month gestation period, usually bearing one calf, or twins if food is plentiful, in May or June. Newborn moose have fur with a reddish hue in contrast to the brown appearance of an adult. The young will stay with the mother until just before the next young are born.

Moose are not usually aggressive towards humans, but can be provoked or frightened to behave with aggression. In terms of raw numbers, they attack more people than bears and wolves combined, but usually with only minor consequences. When harassed or startled by people or in the presence of a dog, moose may charge. Also, as with bears or any wild animal, moose that have become habituated to being fed by people may act aggressively when denied food. During the fall mating season, bull moose may be aggressive toward humans due to the high hormone levels they experience during this time. Cows with young calves are very protective and will attack humans who come too close, especially if they come between mother and calf. Unlike other dangerous animals, moose are not territorial, and do not view humans as food, and will therefore usually not pursue humans if they simply run away. Like any wild animal, moose are unpredictable and should be given a respectful amount of space.

A moose’s body structure, with a large heavy body suspended on long spindly legs, makes these animals particularly dangerous when hit by passenger cars with low ground clearances. Generally, when colliding with a moose at high speed, the car’s bumper and front grille will break the moose’s legs, causing the body of the moose to fly up and over the car’s hood and deliver the bulk of the animal’s weight into the windshield, crushing the front roof support beams and anyone in the front seats.. That means that although initially the following sign is an interesting new occurance on a road trip to further north in Ontario, it’s not to be taken lightly – always keep your eyes out for Moose. When we saw the one we did, at first it looked like a large statue of a moose (as you will find pleanty of moose-type ornaments) however when it turned its head we saw it wasnt, so although their considerable size you can miss them easilly.

Caution, Moose!

If you’re looking to see a moose for yourself and happen to be in Southern Ontario, both Toronto Zoo and Muskoka Wildlife Centre have a number of them, or if you want to try your luck, Algonquin Park would be a good place to camp to try to spot a wild one like we did!

Just remember with all wildlife, respect nature, and it’ll have respect for you!

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The most omnivorous species of all bears, the black bear’s diet is mainly vegetarian, feeding on buds, berries, switching to roots and nuts in the fall. In fact 3/4 of their diet is made up of vegetable matter. The other 1/4 is made up of carrion, insects, grubs, and worms. The black bear also hunts mice, small birds, and fish. Found in both deciduous and coniferous forest, from the Tundra to Mexico as long as there is natural forest for habitat. Den’s are often made out of a hollow tree, a shallow cave or an excavation.

In January the mother bear gives birth to 1-5 cubs during the dormant state, but the average number of cubs is 2. The cubs will spend the next two years with her. Black bears have few natural enemies besides humans. An old or injured bear might be attacked by wolves.

Black bears feature prominently in the stories of some of America’s indigenous peoples. One tale tells of how the black bear was a creation of the Great Spirit, while the grizzly was created by the Evil Spirit. In the mythology of the Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian people of the Northwest Coast, mankind first learned to respect bears when a girl married the son of black bear Chieftan. In Kwakiutl mythology, black and brown bears became enemies when Grizzly Bear Woman killed Black Bear Woman for being lazy. Black Bear Woman’s children, in turn, killed Grizzly Bear Woman’s own cubs. The Navajo believed that the Big Black Bear was chief among the bears of the four directions surrounding Sun’s house, and would pray to it in order to be granted its protection during raids.

Morris Michtom, the creator of the Teddy Bear, was inspired to make the toy when he came across a cartoon of Theodore Roosevelt refusing to shoot a black bear cub trapped up a tree. Winnie the Pooh was named after Winnipeg, a female black bear cub that lived at London Zoo from 1915 until her death in 1934.A black bear cub who in the spring of 1950 was caught in the Capitan Gap fire was made into the living representative of Smokey Bear, the mascot of the United States Forest Service.

Unlike grizzly bears, which became a subject of fearsome legend among the European settlers of North America, black bears were rarely considered overly dangerous, even though they lived in areas where the pioneers had settled. Black bears rarely attack when confronted by humans, and usually limit themselves to making mock charges, emitting blowing noises and swatting the ground with their forepaws.

You can meet a black bear at Muskoka Wildlife Centre if you’re heading to that region of Ontario!

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A Chipmunk stuffing an entire monkey nut into its mouth

Chipmunks are some of the most daring critters you’ll ever meet, and you probably thought squirrels were pretty daring. Some chipmunks you may know are Alvin, Simon and Theodore – or maybe even Disney’s Chip and Dale. It seems fitting that these lively and entertaining little critters have been animated, because when you come across one you’ll likely see the characters you see on TV being acted out in front of you!

The same chipmunk with two whole nuts stuffed in his mouth

Eastern chipmunks mate in early spring and again in early summer, producing litters of four or five young twice each year. Western chipmunks only breed once a year. The young emerge from the burrow after about six weeks and strike out on their own within the next two weeks. Chipmunks have an omnivorous diet consisting of grain, nuts, birds’ eggs, small frogs, fungi, worms, and insects. At the beginning of autumn, many species of chipmunk begin to stockpile these goods in their burrows, for winter. Other species make multiple small caches of food. These two kinds of behavior are called larder hoarding and scatter hoarding. Larder hoarders usually live in their nests until spring.

These small mammals fulfill several important functions in forest ecosystems. Their activities harvesting and hoarding tree seeds play a crucial role in seedling establishment. They consume many different kinds of fungi, including those involved in coexistent associations with trees, and are an important vector for dispersal of the spores of truffles which have co-evolved with these and other mammals and thus lost the ability to disperse their spores through the air.

Chipmunks play an important role as prey for various predatory mammals and birds, but are also opportunistic predators themselves, particularly with regard to bird eggs and nestlings.

Chipmunks construct expansive burrows which can be more than 3.5 m in length with several well-concealed entrances. The sleeping quarters are kept extremely clean as shells and feces are stored in refuse tunnels.

So there you have it! The sweet little chipmunk, keep your eyes open for them scurrying around in the grass while you’re out in Canada!

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When i saw all the photos online before i went out to Canada, all the photos i had seen kind of made the north American cousin to our European badger look pretty ugly and vicious.. but seeing one for real at Muskoka Wildlife Centre actually showed me that they can be quite cute! Yes, they are equally dangerous – so you have to stay well away if you saw one in the wild, but they are equally cute with their flat bodies and the ears that almost seem like they’re on the very sides of their heads!

The American Badger has most of the general characteristics common to badgers; stocky and low-slung with short, powerful legs, they are identifiable by their huge foreclaws (measuring up to 5cm in length) and distinctive head markings. Measuring generally between 60 to 75 cm (23.6 to 29.5 inches) in length, males of the species are significantly larger than females (with an average weight of roughly 7 kg (15.5 pounds) for females and up to almost 9 kg (19.8 pounds) for males). Northern subspecies such as T. t. jeffersonii are heavier than the southern subspecies. In the fall, when food is plentiful, adult male badgers can exceed 11.5 kg (25.3 pounds).[4]

Excluding the head, the American Badger is covered with a grizzled, silvery coat of coarse hair or fur. The American Badger’s triangular face shows a distinctive black and white pattern, with brown or blackish “badges” marking the cheeks and a white stripe extending from the nose to the base of the head. In the subspecies T. t. berlandieri, the white head stripe extends the full length of the body, to the base of the tail.

It preys predominantly on pocket gophers, ground squirrels, moles, marmots, prairie dogs, pika, woodrats, kangaroo rats, deer mice , and voles, often digging to pursue prey into their dens, and sometimes plugging tunnel entrances with objects. They also prey on ground-nesting birds such as bank swallow or sand martin and burrowing owl, lizards, amphibians, carrion, fish, skunks, insects, including bees and honeycomb and some plant foods such as maize, peas, green beans, mushrooms and other fungi, and sunflower seeds.

They are mainly active at night, but may be active during the day. They do not hibernate, but become less active in winter. A badger may spend much of the winter in cycles of torpor that last around 29 hours. They do emerge from their setts on warmer days.

Badgers sometimes use abandoned burrows of other animals like foxes or animals slightly smaller or bigger. Badgers are normally solitary animals for most of the year, but it is thought that in breeding season they expand their territories to actively seek out mates. Males may breed with more than one female. Mating occurs in the summer, but implantation is delayed and the young are born in an underground burrow during late winter. Litters consist of one to five offspring.

American badgers will sometimes form a symbiotic relationship with Coyotes. Because coyotes are not very effective at digging rodents out of their burrows, they will chase the animals while they are above ground. Badgers on the other hand are not fast runners, but are well-adapted to digging. When hunting together, they effectively leave little escape for prey in the area.

So now should you see one of these cute creatures, you’ll know a good bit about them and know to keep back, as they may look cute but you never mess with a badger!

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First up – The Raccoon!

Meet Rachael

The Raccoon is my favourite animal, and every year we go – they manage to amaze me with their intelligence, dexterity, agility and personality. We stay at a location where raccoons are very common, and we treat them now and then to a variety of different -raccoon safe- foods.

Rachael in the picture above accidentally got caught in a composter when she was only a kit (a baby raccoon) – though luckily she was found, and some water and food was put out for her. After this adventure, she grew to know the people we stay with and eventually had a litter of Kits of her own. The picture above was taken a week before she brought her kits out to look for food with them, rather than taking back food to them.

Raccoons are scientifically classed as Carnivores – but as everyone knows, raccoons are self fashioned omnivores, eating a whole variety of bugs, fruit, seeds, nuts, fish and even small rodents if they are hungry enough to hunt for them. Because of their varied diet it isn’t too difficult to find foods that may be suitable to offer to them – canned fish is usually a good option, as well as eggs.

Raccoons are Nocturnal, and will come out at night normally – but if a raccoon knows there’s food available, it puts its self above the law of the sun, and will come out to look for food when it’s hungry – like our friend at the floral clock!

A raccoon at the floral clock

Raccoons don’t generally have a particularly long life expectancy – on average just over three years. However this is an average.. Raccoons can live for up to 20 years depending on their environment.
In Canada it is illegal to hunt raccoons – they are a protected species, which instantly boosts the raccoons life expectancy in comparison to the unfortunate raccoons in the USA

If you’re lucky enough to get close enough to a raccoon to watch it eat or go about its nightly tasks, watch how it uses its Hands.. raccoons have often been mistaken for having opposable thumbs, as they can seemingly use their hands in exactly the same way as humans – being able to pick up and manipulate objects easily – and looking at their hands you could easily be mistaken for thinking those cute fingers were very similar to human hands.

Raccoons are known for their sneakiness and intelligence.. If you have a chicken coop, always check the floor… raccoons have been known to slowly and carefully claw at the wooden boards underneath, and the most secure hen coop in the world cant stop the tunneling thief on one night when he pops up out of the floor – Literally grabs a chicken with his hands and scampers back off down his tunnel, only to return for more on the same night, hoarding food!… Another example of raccoons and their intelligence is their ability to problem solve. In some parts it is legal to have raccoons as pets, and you can buy toys for them. These special toys are a number of little boxes all locked by some form of mechanism – the locks go from simple bolts right through to twisted wires – inside the box the raccoon knows there is food, and will work out how to open the box and get at the food! ..
Raccoons have also been known to learn which symbols mean more food — experiments were done to find out if a raccoon would go to a box with more raisens in if they were given the option after they had previously found this out — surely enough – the raccoons always went to the box with the most food simply by the recognition.
Melon farmers often find melons with holes clawed into them, allowing the raccoon to get its hand in, and claw out the sweet fruit inside – leaving nothing but a shell full of seeds!

A melon which we cut a hole in to save the raccoons some time!

The raccoon has an incredible sense of touch. If you notice, raccoons often are pawing at the grass, food, or other objects – when a domesticated raccoon is being handled, it will always be sniffing and reaching its paws into every place imaginable – especially finding out what is inside pockets and bags! This habit of exploration by touch has lead to how it got its name in many different languages – in German – Waschbar – “washing bear” in french raton laveaur (excuse my spelling) “washing rat” – Raccoons also do dip things in water to appear to wash them, but the actions of touch are one of the key reasons for them doing this!

Even though they are highly intelligent, just like you and me not every raccoon likes to be touched, so it’s best to let them do their thing!

Popular raccoons you may know… Meeko – out of Disney’s Pocahontas and the Canadian 80s cartoon – The Raccoons, featuring Bert, Ralph and Melissa!

So there you have it – Now if you cross paths with one while you’re on holiday, you’ll have a little bit more understanding of their magic!

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