Distinguishing Features – Overall colouration, silvery-brown to dark brown oily, waterproof fur with chestnut to hazel sides; underparts, grayish; tail flattened vertically, without fur; hind feet, partially webbed. Size Male: .48 – .6 m (1.6 – 2 ft) Female: .51 – .57 m (1.7 – 1.9 ft) Habitat Common throughout Northwestern Ontario, primarily in lakes, … Read more
Boreal forests throughout the world share many of the same species of animals and plants as Northwestern Ontario’s boreal region. flora. On the following pages we will look at the common and not-so-common flora and fauna found elsewhere in Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia, Russia, Eurasia and Siberia.
General – perennial, evergreen, hemicryptophyte, subshrubs, autotrophic, monoclinous, with adventitious roots and with fibrous roots, 0.02-0.4 m tall, with rhizomes. Trailing Arbutus Leaves – alternate, 1 per node, spaced evenly along stem; petiolate, petiole 0.4-3(-5) cm long, hairs short and unbranched, erect. Flowers – formed on short shoots, monomorphic, with sepals and petals readily distinguishable … Read more
Distinguishing Features – Length: male 43 cm; weight: .56 kg; female: 40 cm; weight: .45 kg. Adult Male – summer: Bill black. Iris brown. Toes and claws dark brown, the edges of the latter yellowish-grey. Head and neck bright chestnut, the feathers on the back part of the latter and crown of the head barred … Read more
General – erect, little branched, densely matted rhizoids on lower stems; forms large cushions and sometimes mats, 2 – 8 cm high. Leaves – 5 – 12 mm long, erect to curved, pointed in 1 direction, moist or dry; lance- shaped and sharply pointed; midrib single, ends in tip; uppper leaf cells longer than wide, … Read more
Northwestern Ontario’s vast forests have spawned an enormous regional enterprise based on wood. The region’s forest products are valued at more than $3 billion a year and the industry provides more than 15,000 jobs. The most valuable forest product by sales is wood pulp, produced by five mills (Weyerhauser in Dryden, Bowater in Thunder Bay, … Read more
Distinguishing Features – Leaves: 6 – 13 cm long; narrow, lance-shaped, with pointed tips, saw-toothed; colouration: dark green above and whitish to gray underneath. Bark: gray; rough, thick, deeply grooved. Branchlets: yellowish-green to brownish; slender, unbranched, drooping Flowers: borne on catkins 1 – 2.5 cm long; greenish; on the ends of short leafy twigs; appearing … Read more
General – a low perennial from slender, creeping rhizomes, stems simple, erect, hairless or with tiny glands; growing up to 20 cm tall. Leaves – simple, in whorls of 5 to 9 at stem tip, with a few small, scale-like leaves below, lance-shaped, 3 – 10 cm long, stalkless or short-stalked, thin, toothless or finely … Read more
Distinguishing Features – The Siberian tiger bears the typical markings of all tigers and is the largest of all the wild cats. A male can weigh more than 300 kg. and measures 2.7 – 3.6 m. long from its head to the tip of its tail, the female is a little smaller. Habitat They are … Read more
Distinguishing Features – Overall colouration, grizzled-gray mixed with reddy-brown, giving “salt & pepper” look, darker on back; sides, more grayish; underside, brownish with a whitish highlights. Dominant black mask extends from eyes across cheeks. Ears, edged in white; tail bushy with prominent dark rings. Size 75 – .93 m (2.5 – 3.1 ft) Habitat Much … Read more