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Burwash
Turtles |
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Painted Turtles are very common
in the Burwash lakes. These turtles were sunning themselves on a
fallen log.
Location: Burwash,
Nellie Lake
Photographed June
21, 2008
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Painted turtle on its way to lay
eggs along a sandy road.
Location: Burwash
Date: June 13, 2009.
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Painted turtle laying its eggs
along a sandy road at about 7 PM.
Location: Burwash
Date: June 13, 2009. |
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Painted Turtles on
a log in the sun.
Location: Killarney
Date: July 1, 2008.
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An animal dug these turtle eggs
from their nest and ate the un-hatched turtles. Along this
section of road, about 5 turtle "nests" had been opened by
a predator.
Location: Burwash
Date: June 21, 2008
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Snapping
turtle on an highway in the Burwash area.
Location: Estaire
Date: June 19, 2004.
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Eastern
Chipmunk |
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The Eastern Chipmunk lives in the
ground. It has a body that is 15 to 20 cm long and a tail that
is 8 to 12 cm long. This chipmunk has fur that is reddish-brown
in colour with two dark stripes flanked by two white stripes on
either side of the back. The belly of the chipmunk is
white. Eastern Chipmunks live in the deciduous forest.
They are frequent fallen logs, stumps, and rocks piles. The mouth of
the chipmunk can expand to three times its head size! The
chipmunk hibernates from late fall to early spring. However, it
wakes periodically to eat.
Click
here for more Facts on Chipmunks
Location: Burwash
hardwood forest
Date: October 14, 2007
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Porcupine |
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The porcupine is a big rodent.
The porcupine lives in trees, rock dens, and hollow logs. The male
porcupine weighs 5-6 kilograms (12 pounds). Porcupines are up to 1
metre (3 feet) in length. Females are a little smaller than males.
The Porcupine is covered with fur and quills. The color of the quills
is a yellowish white and the fur is a brownish black. The Porcupine
has over 30,000 quills. The quills are hardened hairs. The tips
are made of sharp pointy barbs. The Porcupine has three different
layers of hairs. The inner layer is to keep it warm. The guard hairs
and outer layer are to keep out rain and snow. The Porcupine has long
claws to help it climb trees. It has a small head and long gnawing
teeth. The Porcupine eats bark, leaves, buds, stems, fruit, sometimes
crops, canoe paddles, signposts, picnic tables and canoes. It prefers
to eat at night. It relies on its keen sense of smell.
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Frogs |
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Leopard frogs are common in the
Burwash lakes.
Photographed:
Left: August 2000; Right: July 10. 2001.
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Frog egg sack,
created in a puddle along an old logging road.
Location: Burwash
area, north of Killarney Highway.
Date: April 25, 2009 |
In the spring, tad poles are
common in the small pools of water.
Location: Burwash
Date: May 19, 2001
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The Bull Frog (Rana catesbeinana)
is Ontario's largest frog. It grows to between 10-15 cm. They
are greenish brown. The male has a yellow throat. They live on shores
of lakes and along slow- moving rivers. The Bull Frog tadpole has to
over-winter before turning into an adult.
Location: Burwash
Date: August 7, 2002.
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Freshwater
clams live on the bottom of lakes and creeks. Each clam has two
shells that are joined at the back by a strong hinge. Internal
muscles hold the shells tightly closed. The clam uses a
"foot", or muscle, to move. Clams filter the water to
collect tiny plant and animal material as food. To reproduce, a clam
produces thousands of eggs on to the bottom of the pond that develop
into miniature copy of the adult. To survive, these "babies"
must attached themselves to the gills or scales of fish within a few
days. The babies remain on their host for 10 to 30 days and then
release themselves and fall to the bottom of the pond. Small clams
have soft shells and are a source of food for fish. Larger clams with
harder shells are hunted and eaten by muskrats, raccoons, mink, and
some turtles.
Location: Paddy Creek
Date: August 9, 2002.
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Tunneling
Mole |
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A dead tunneling
mole. This mole had been captured by a predator that ran off into the
bush when I startled it.
Location: Burwash
Date: June 24, 2001.
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Pygmy
Shrew |
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The pygmy shrew is the smallest
mammal in North America. It is also the second smallest mammal
in the world. It weighs about 2.5 gram and is only 7 to 9 cm
long. It looks like a tiny mouse with a long nose. Its tail is
about as long as its body. Its soft fur is brown to grey on its
back, and pale grey or silvery on its belly. In Ontario, it lives
north of a line from Kingston to Georgian Bay, in deep woods, open
and brushy fields, or mossy bogs. It hunts for insects and insect
larvae, small earthworms, centipedes, and spiders among dead leaves,
and branches. Its burrows are small and look like tunnels of larger
earthworms. Their main enemies are owls, snakes, and weasels.
Sometimes dead pygmy shrews are left by animals that don't eat them
because the shrew has a bad small given off by musk glands.
Location: Burwash
Arcand road
Date: April 9, 2004
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Burwash
Moose |
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Moose are common in the Burwash
area, but they are elusive. Tracks are common.
Location: Thunder
Bay, Crystal Lake mountain
Photographed: May
14, 2002.
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A moose skull with its antlers
still attached is not a common find.
Location: Burwash
Date: May 20, 2001
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Moose winter browse on new growth
of maple.
Location: Trout
Lake road
Date: March 16, 2008 |
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Burwash
Deer |
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White tail deer are common in the
Burwash area. This deer was resting in an open field where the wind
helped control the blackflies. When confronted, it snorted, stomped
its front legs for about 30 seconds, and then bounded into the bush.
Location: Burwash
Photographed: June
1, 2002.
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When the White tail deer runs
away, its white-coloured tail is very distinctive.
Location: Burwash
Date: June 1, 2002
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White tail doe and her faun. The
faun still has spots used to hide the deer from predators.
Location: Killarney
Date: August 29, 2004
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This animal skull, possibly from
a deer, that died of natural causes or during hunting season.
Photographed:
November 2000.
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Beaver |
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Beaver (Castor canadensis) are
common on the lakes and ponds in the Burwash area; however, these
beavers were photographed on the side of their lodge in the Thunder
Bay area. The beaver is the largest rodent in North America and
largest in the world, except for the capybara of South America.
Ojibwe First Nation knowledge:
The Ojibwe word for beaver is Amik. Because beavers eat the
roots of yellow pond lily and alder and poplar bark, which are
considered to be medicinal plants by some Ojibwe First Nation
peoples, the meat of beaver is considered to be healthy by some First
Nation peoples. (Source: Chief Eli Moonias, Marten
Falls First Nation)
Location: Silver
Falls, Thunder Bay
Date: May 15, 2002. |
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A beaver gathers food late in
fall before the winter freeze.
Location: Paddy Creek
Date: November 10, 2002.
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Beaver are cautious, but curious.
Commonly it is possible to acquire close-up photographs.
Location: Paddy Creek
Date: August 15, 2003.
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Beaver lodge in
the spring. Note that remaining food supplies floating in the open
water in front of the lodge.
Location: Burwash
Date: March 25, 2007
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Beaver lodges have
a breathing hole. These are easier to find in the winter when moist,
warm air from within the lodge forms ice crystals around the
breathing hole, as seen here.
Location: Burwash
Date: January 1, 2002 |
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This poplar tree
was felled by a beaver. The branches were then harvested by the
beaver as a source of food.
Location: Burwash
Photographed:
Summer 2000.
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This tree was
felled by a beaver. Note that the beaver made at least 6
attempts to chew through the log.
Location: Burwash
Photographed:
April 17, 2006
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A beaver dam
creates a lake as water fills behind the dam.
Location: Burwash
Date: May 5, 2001.
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Beavers have a
pair of scent glands, called castors. Beavers secrete a musk-like
substance called castoreum to mark their territories. Mounds of
mud or vegetation are common around beaver ponds. These mounds are
marked by the musk-like substance.
Location: Burwash
Photographed:
October 3, 2003.
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Bear |
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Black bear are
quite common in the Burwash area. This bear was eating clover along
an old logging road.
Location: Burwash
area, Killarney Highway
Date: April 25, 2009
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We have seen bears
at Burwash This dead tree was ripped apart by a bear in search of
ants or grubs for food.
Location: Burwash.
Date: Summer 2000.
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Bears are
excellent tree climbers. Seen here are claw marks left by a bear that
climbed this tree.
Location: Burwash
Date: March 31, 2004
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Burwash
Elk |
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Burwash elk named Sam.
Location: Burwash
Date: August 7, 2003
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Sam, the Burwash
elk, resting in the early morning.
Location: Burwash
Date: November 2, 2003
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Burwash Elk along
the Wanapetei River, about 3 km south of McVittie hydro dam. The
mother, on the right, wears a radio collar. The young calf eats
tender branches.
Location:
Wanapetei River
Date: August 15, 2002.
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Elk have been
introduced in to the Burwash area. In the fall, several trees were
striped of bark. Possibly elk, deer or moose rubbed their felted
antlers against these trees to remove the felt.
Location: Burwash
Date: October 2000.
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An early storm in November 2000
delivered about 30 cm of snow. The day after, these tracks tell
a story of several elk that walked and fed on the hill side.
The elk dug through the snow to get at the summer grass.
Location: Burwash.
Date: November 2000.
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An elk bed, beside alder. There
were four different beds in this small area.
Location: Burwash,
old town site.
Date: December 2000.
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Elk were introduced into the
Burwash area over the last few years. The elk were imported
from Alberta. During the early part of winter (December, 2000),
elk were common along the north shore of Cemetery Lake. This
area has ample alder and dogwood food and protected the elk from the
north winds.
Location: Burwash
Date: December 2000
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This elk was curious about our
presence. It continued to approach us until I took the
photograph. The camera noise scared the elk away.
Location: Cemetery
Lake, Burwash
Date: December 2000.
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These elk crossed the road in the
late afternoon. They were eating fresh grass along the side of
the old road. Note the one elk that is almost completely hidden
on the left side of the photo. The colour of the elk's coat is
very good camouflage. The white band around their neck is a
tracking collar.
Location: Burwash
Date: April 22, 2001.
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This elk was one of five that
were eating fresh grass along the side of the old road. It is
losing its winter coat. Note the white tracking collar around its
neck and the identification tag in its ear.
Location: Burwash
Date: April 22, 2001.
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The elk on the road (above) was
spooked by the sound of the camera and bounded away. Note all four
legs are off the ground. The elk ran to the field on the other
side of the road where it watched me carefully (below).
Location: Burwash
Date: April 22, 2001.
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This single elk was curious about
my presence. It watched and approached me. The snap of
the camera frightened the elk and it ran into the forest.
Location: Burwash
Date: April 22, 2001.
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Mink |
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The Mink (Mustela vison)
belongs to the family Mustelidae, which includes badgers, fishers,
martens, otters, skunks, weasels and wolverines. The Mink
has a chocolate brown to black fur and has a distinctive white spot
on the chin and its throat. The mink may be as large as a small
cat. It lives in forested areas along rivers, creeks, ponds,
lakes and marshes. Mink eat muskrats, mice, rabbits, chipmunks, fish,
snakes, frogs and birds. Mink dig their dens near water. The pelts
are highly valued and the mink is trapped in the wild or raised
commercially on ranches.
Location: Paddy Lake
Date: May 3, 2003
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River Otter |
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River Otter (Lontra canadensis)
is member of the weasel family. River Otters prefer to live on
the shores of rivers, lakes, and large marshes. They attain a maximum
length of about 1.4 m and a weight of about 13.5 kg. River Otters
have thick fur that is characteristic of mammals that spend a
lot of time in the water. River Otters are very sociable and
playful. They are primarily nocturnal and remain active year round.
They eat fish, insects, frogs, and occasionally small mammals such as muskrats.
Location: Burwash
Date: October 3,
2003 (top right); May 29, 2005 (below and below right)
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