Wildlife in Abundance

[Rachel J]

From the very large Moose to the tiny red salamader, they all seem to like the site.  All living in harmony with our 10 horses, 12 chickens and various other animals.

Our pond is small but to a lonely beaver last year it was home for a couple of days.  Plans to expand the pond may give a wandering beaver a home one day.  Beavers (Castor canadensis) continue to grow throughout life. Adult specimens weighing over 25 kg (55 lb) are not uncommon. Females are as large as or larger than males of the same age, which is uncommon among mammals.

In some areas agriculture introduces herbicides and pesticides into our streams. Some of these bacterial toxicants are metabolized and decomposed by the bacteria in the cellulose-rich bottom of a beaver dam.  So they are good guys in any green campaign.

In 1975 the beaver became the National Symbol of Canada.

[Rachel J]

Moose towards the back of our property are very common.  For big animals it is amazing to see how quickly they can disappear into a forest.

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).

The male will drop its antlers after the mating season and conserve energy for the winter. A new set of antlers will then re-grow in the spring. Antlers take three to five months to fully develop, making them one of the fastest growing animal organs.

Predators are wolves and occasionally bear, although in New Brunswick car collisions with moose are more frequent (2000 collisions per year!) enough that all new highways have fences to prevent moose from accessing the road, similar to how it has long been done in Nordic countries. 

[Rachel J]

For a small fella the spring peeper can really make a noise!  In New Brunswick they are known as TINKLETOES.

The spring peeper is a small species, adult size is between 0.75 inches (19 mm) and 1 inch (25 mm) long. They have a dark cross on their backs roughly in the shape of an "X" (thus the Latin name crucifer, for cross), though sometimes the marking may be indistinct. The color variations of the P. crucifer are mostly tan, brown, olive green, and gray. Females are lighter-colored, while males are slightly smaller and usually have dark throats. This frog has a vocal sac located by its throat, which expands and deflates like a balloon to create a short and distinct peeping sound. Only males have the ability to make this loud high-pitched noise, and they use it to attract mates.

This creature lives in wetlands, marshes, and pond or swamp regions in order to support the aquatic environment the larvae need. The Spring Peeper breeds between the months of March to June, and deposits around 900 eggs that are hidden under vegetation or debris at the water base. After hatching, they transform into frogs and are ready to leave the water in about eight weeks.

[Rachel J]

The deer's coat is a reddish-brown in the spring and summer and turns to a grey-brown throughout the fall and winter. The deer can be recognized by the characteristic white underside to its tail, which it shows as a signal of alarm by raising the tail during escape.  Average bucks weigh from 130 to 300 pounds (60 to 130 kg). The female (doe) usually weighs from 90 to 165 pounds (40 to 75 kg).

Males re-grow their antlers every year. About 1 in 10,000 females also have antlers.  Females give birth to one, two or even possibly three spotted young, (fawns) in mid to late spring, generally in May or June. Fawns lose their spots during the first summer and will weigh from 44 to 77 pounds (20 to 35 kg) by the first winter.

In exceptionally rare cases deer have been spotted with one single horn and this is thought to be the basis for the legend of the Unicorn.  This occurred in Italy in 2008, see the linkhttp://abcnews.go.com/WaterCooler/wireStory?id=5045909

On our site we have seen many deer with fawns and in groups as large as 25.  The stray in the photo was wandering through the apple orchard.

[Peter James]

The wildlife is superb and our own horses (and Unicorns) live alongside it.  They tend to be the first sign that we have a visitor, be it human or animal.  They will all stand still and stare directly towards the visitor.  The main horse in the picture is Silverado, who leads the small herd.  Behind him is Major, who has just turned four and yet to be whispered to.

[Peter James]

The Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus) or Northern Harrier (in Canada) is a bird of prey. It breeds throughout the northern parts of the northern hemisphere in Canada and the northernmost USA, and in northern Eurasia. It migrates to more southerly areas in winter.

The Hen Harrier is 45–55 cm long with a 97–118 cm wingspan.  Males weighing an average of 350 g and females an average of 530 g.  The male is mainly dark grey above and white below except for the upper breast, which is grey like the upperparts, and the rump, which is white; the wings are grey with black wingtips. The female is dark brown above with white upper tail coverts, hence females, and the similar juveniles, are often called "ringtails". Their underparts are buff streaked with brown.

This medium-sized raptor breeds on moorland, bogs and farmland. The nest is on the ground. Four to six whitish eggs are laid.  In winter, the Hen Harrier is a bird of open country, and will then roost communally, often with Merlins and Marsh Harriers. There is now an accepted record of transatlantic vagrancy by the American subspecies, with a juvenile being recorded in Scilly, Great Britain.

This is a typical harrier, with long wings held in a shallow V in its low, contour-hugging, flight. Hen Harriers hunt small mammals and birds, surprising them as they drift low over fields and moors.

There is evidence of a population decline, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List.  It is therefore classified as "least concern".

Problems in the United Kingdom, the Hen Harrier suffers illegal persecution by gamekeepers and their employers on shooting estates, particularly those managed for Red Grouse shooting, resulting in local and regional extinction in many areas, particularly in England.

Each year several breeding pairs return to the festival fields and can be seen daily, methodically traversing the fields.  One individual returned 5th April.

[Peter James]

The American Black Bear usually ranges in length from 5 to 6 feet and typically stands about 2.5 to 3 feet at the shoulder.  Standing up on its hind feet, a Black Bear can be up to 7 feet tall. Females are 33% smaller. Females weigh between 90 and 400 pounds, males between 250 and 600 pounds. Cubs weigh 7 ounces at birth.  The coat can vary from white to black and occasionally have a slight V-shaped white chest blaze.

Black bears hibernate during winter.  Females breed at 3 to 4 years of age and can breed every 2 years.  However, if food is scarce the embryos will not develop.  The cubs are born in January or February with 2 to 3 cubs being common.

Black bears are omnivores with diets including plants, meat, and insects providing 95% of their diet.  Bark stripping occur mostly in spring.  Though Black Bears will attack cattle and horses, they prefer sheep, goats, calves, and pigs though this is a rare occurrence.  Like many animals, they seldom attack unless cornered, threatened, or wounded.

Because little of their behavior has been understood Black Bears have been feared and hated. Before the 20th century, these bears were shot as vermin, food, and trophies.
Paradoxically, Black Bears have also been portrayed as harmless and cuddly. For example, the teddy bear owes its existence to a young Black Bear cub Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot, and Christopher Robin Milne named his teddy Winnie-the-Pooh after Winnipeg, a Black Bear which he and his father saw at London Zoo.

Today, Black Bears are as much an important game species as they are a point of debate across the continent, especially in the suburbs. Given their relatively low reproductive rate, Black Bear hunting must be carefully controlled and is probably inappropriate in areas where populations are feeble or where habitat is no longer intact.

Moving through the festival area there were three Black Bears last year.  With 14 being shot within 3 miles of the area we are yet to see if any of our local population is still here.

[Peter James]

Chipmunk is the common name for any small squirrel-like rodent species of the genus Tamias,  which is Greek for "storer."   The genus includes twenty-five recognized species.

Eastern chipmunks mate in early spring and again in early summer, producing litters of four or five young twice each year.  At the beginning of autumn, they begin to stockpile goods in their burrows, for winter.

Chipmunks are key to healthy forest ecosystems as their activities scatter tree seeds, they consume fungi, and are important for dispersal of truffle spores.  So if you have oak trees and want to grow something worth more than it's weight in gold, make sure you have plenty of chipmunks under the tree.

Chipmunks are prey for various predatory mammals and birds, but are also opportunistic predators themselves, particularly with regard to bird eggs and nestlings.  They construct expansive burrows which can be more than 3.5 m in length with several well-concealed entrances.
 
Ours bounce over the log piles and almost fly through the air!

[Peter James]

Canis lupus - Gray Wolf;      Canis lycaon – Red Wolf;      Canis latrans - Coyote

Canis lupus - Domestic Dogs ;   Coywolf;  Wolfdogs;   Coydogs;   Vulpes - Fox.

When you see what looks like a dog in the distance you could be mistaken for not knowing which of the above groups it belongs to.  What makes it harder is the resulting hybrids from the constant cross-breeding between each group.   All groups have occupied New Brunswick and spotted regularly.  Maps of their ranges very and many even show no coyotes in New Brunswick!

We were lucky in our first winter here to see a Grey Wolf, or Timber Wolf.  Even experienced hunters can go all their lives and not see one in the wild.  Sightings in New Brunswick are infrequent but still occur regularly.

Main differences:- Wolves have long powerful muzzles, deeper smoother howl, footprints overlap, longer legs and generally larger heads and feet.  Coyotes – relatively long bushy tails, large ears, half the size of a wolf.

See the photo and see if you can tell which one it is? 

[Kayd]

I think that one is a a dog..no bushy tail, and quite scrawny.....gonna let us know?

[Peter James]

We will let everyone who asks know what it is personally so we can leave the posting up for our new visitors.

[eggcentric]

Just about jumped out of my skin today whilst coming around a corner i came foot to face with ''Suzie" the garden snake.  Sorry no pic, i had a rake in my hand instead of a camera.  The kids call him/her Suzie and so far they haven't noticed that she ranges in size from one to three feet and sometimes she's green, other times copper/brown, and even silver/gray.  I haven't enlightened them to the fact that 'she' is really 'they' since one snake is a curiosity but many might be a reason to panic! 
This is the earliest i've ever seen a garden snake; she was sunning herself on a piece of scrap metal behind the coop, looking just like a neat coil of garden hose.  Until she moved.
Though garden snakes are not poisonous, they can be territorial and will attack.  I know because a fiesty little one came at me one day when i got too close to her woodpile.
Two years ago I couldn't get my broody hens to stay on their eggs, they kept getting up halfway through and leaving the nest.  Finally a really determined hen set in for her three week sit, and one morning when i checked on her I found a dead snake at least two feet long in front of her box.  Pretty plucky to battle it out with a snake in the dark!  I was surprised that she didn't eat it, and i had to dispose of it.  Chickens are omnivores, and will eat most anything.  I often joke with my husband that I hope I never faint in the coop, because anything that hits the floor in there is gone!  I once watched a field mouse try to run across the floor of the coop,...three hens and two seconds later, there wasn't anything left of him.  Just like gatorland, Florida!

[eggcentric]

Has anyone else seen a type of Heron called an American Bittern around here?  This crazy looking bird landed next to my son in the driveway a few days ago.  It stands with its beak pointed up into the sky, so its eyes are on sideways!  We found a video on youtube of them "pumping", they make this sound like a water drop kind of the same way frogs make their croak with their throat.  Very neat.  Not so neat is that all of the tadpoles are gone now!

[Rachel J]

We haven't had that one visit yet. If you'd like some more tadpoles though I'm sure we can find you some here.

[Rachel J]

After saying that the other day - guess what I saw today? Just at the end of our road on a marshy bit of ground an American Bittern!