By Andrea O'Halloran Turtles will soon be coming out of hibernation, which may prompt you to wonder where they spend all that time! It turns out, turtles return to the same site to hibernate each year, displaying something scientists call "site fidelity". Simply put, site fidelity is the behavioural inclination to return to a site that was previously used. Animals, from birds to reptiles, employ this strategy in an attempt to restrict energy expenditure and to limit the threat of mortality (Switzer, 1993). Ontario turtles are known to exhibit site fidelity in several ways, including returnin ..read more

by Siena Smith If you can believe it spring is just five days away, with March 19th officially kicking off the spring season! We will soon be in for longer days, with more daylight hours to get outside and go for walks. What’s more, the warmer weather means when we do go outside, we don’t need 10 layers of clothing to keep warm. In our opinion, however, the most exciting sign of spring is the return of the migratory birds to The Land Between. One of our earliest and most fascinating returnees is the American Woodcock, a robin-sized shorebird with a lot of character. These birds will be here ..read more

By Sarah Reed In an effort to spread awareness this Invasive Species Awareness week, we're dedicating this blog post to the most common invasive plant species in The Land Between. What is an invasive plant species, you might ask? The term invasive plants refers to foreign trees, shrubs, and aquatics that have been introduced to non-native areas, primarily through human activity and have proliferated to the extent that they out-compete species that naturally occur in the area. They can overtake habitats and suppress native plants because they typically lack any native predators. Associated ne ..read more

You read that right, Squirrel Appreciation Day, an annual celebration of our furry backyard friends. Since its inception in 2001, every 21st of January has been set aside as a day to say thank you to the cute little guys we all know (some might say too) well. There are more than 260 species of squirrel all over the world, and 22 here in Canada. But some of the critters scientists call squirrels may not necessarily be what you and I would automatically think of. Technically, a squirrel is anything belonging to the Sciuridae family which includes tree squirrels, chipmunks, flying squirrels, ma ..read more

By Tori Voldock Known for their reputation as a nuisance, squirrels have become a part of most people’s daily lives. The Land Between is home to two different squirrel species: the Eastern Gray Squirrel, which can be gray or black, and the Red Squirrel which is a rusty red colour. Believe it or not, these small rodents play an important role in our forest ecosystems because of their diet, food storing behaviour, and ability to thrive in different habitats. Keep reading this short blog post to learn more! Squirrels' diets vary depending on the season, which is one of the reasons they can be f ..read more

Written By Emma Halupka Edited by Kate Dickson Most who celebrate the holidays would agree that things would not feel like Christmas without a Christmas tree! However, as you may already know, there are a few environmental considerations to take into account when it comes to selecting your Christmas tree. In this quick blog post, we address the primary two as well as the things you should think about should you want to consider selecting a Christmas tree with the environment in mind! Fresh vs. faux: Which to choose? There has been much debate over the pros and cons of artificial vs. real ..read more

By: Jake Knowles Far from a natural surface, the uniformity of road infrastructure in North America is constantly at odds with the elements. Maintaining safe driving conditions on roads requires a number of amendments – one common example being the widespread and increasing use of de-icing road salts (Kaushal et al., 2005; Chapra et al., 2009). These salts (NaCl and CaCl2), which operate by lowering the freezing point of water, are indiscriminately applied to winter roads. One major consequence of this application is the salinization of freshwater lakes, whereby salts are leached from roads ..read more

On the back of our "under-appreciated pollinators" blog and with spooky season in full swing, we're taking the time to elaborate a bit more on one of our favourite pollinators: bats! Pollination by bats, which actually has its own name - chiropterophily - is vital for plants like mango, banana, and even agave! In this post, we'll talk a bit more about bats, their role in pollination globally, as well as the conservation concern for bats generally and in The Land Between specifically. Keep reading! What is pollination? A recap. Pollination is the movement of a pollen grain from the anther ..read more

By: Michael Allen Bryden  There's no denying that beavers do some pretty amazing things, not least their ability to adapt to their environment, as well as forcing their environment to adapt to them. By creating dams, beavers engineer their ecosystem around themselves: not just benefiting their own lifestyle but the lives of many other animals around them. They owe it all to their incredible teeth. A beaver’s diet in the summer consists of leaves, buds, twigs, aquatic vegetation; and the bark of deciduous trees, which make up nearly 50% of what they eat. In the winter months, their diet ..read more

By: Michael Allen Bryden The interaction between individuals of different species has been recorded throughout natural history. Mutualism, more specifically, occurs when two such species' interaction results in positive and beneficial effects for both animals. There are many famous examples of this mutualistic relationship, including the Honeyguide leading the Honey Badger of Africa to its next shared meal as well as the Oxpecker receiving a fresh spread of insects when cleaning Zebras and Rhinos. Recently, an interesting new wild alliance was discovered between the Common raven (Corvus cora ..read more