Category Archives: Animals

Animals, Environment

Wildlife returning to the Dillon Creek Wetlands

It has been a year since Autumn Barrett-Morgan was hired as a Biological Monitoring Technician at the Dillon Creek Wetlands Restoration Project. This is in Cortes Island’s oldest farm site, currently known as Linnaea Farm, but prior to the land being a farm, it was wetlands. Three years ago the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) and Linnaea Farm partnered in a project to restore the wetlands, to help reduce the sediment and thus reduce the nutrients flowing down Dillon Creek into Gunflint Lake. The wetlands are also meant to enhance the breeding and foraging grounds for wildlife, including Species at Risk. 

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Animals, Environment

The need to protect Black Bear dens on Vancouver Island

Unlike their Mainland cousins, Vancouver Island’s Black Bears make their dens almost exclusively in large-diameter old trees, stumps, logs, or root wads. Dens are normally left dormant for a while after use, due to parasite infestation and the need to escape predators. However a study in the Nimpkish Valley, south of Port McNeill, found that 72% of the dens were reused over a 15 year period. In one case, the den was occupied during four winters. 

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Animals

Why do frogs sing in the spring? Friends of Cortes Island Society Weighs in

CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

The familiar sound of a chorus of frogs is one sure sign that spring has arrived, and is an important part of the animals’ courtship during mating season.

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Animals

Ministry biologist talks about five threatened bird species on Cortes Island

When Cortes Currents asked the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) who to interview for more in depth coverage of ‘species at risk,’ they responded ‘Jenna Cragg’ from BC’s Ministry of Environment. That was last January, which shows how busy she is. Sabina Leader Mense described Cragg as one of FOCI’s key ‘go to’ species at risk biologists, who provides the facts that FOCI brings into the community. 

In the emails we exchanged prior to this interview, Cragg specifically mentioned five species: the Marbled Murrelet, Great Blue Heron, Double Crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant and Western Screech Owl.

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Animals

B.C. Scapegoats Wolf Population, Blaming Them For The Caribou Decline

By Jacob Cardinal, Alberta Native News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

(ANNews) – In January of this year, B.C announced the extension of its controversial wolf reduction program for another five years and is set to target the Kootenay, Cariboo, Omineca, Skeena and Peace regions of the province.

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