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Three Little Rodents in Mount Royal Park
Grey squirrel
They are found everywhere on the mountain and are hard to miss! Active year-round, grey squirrels can be easily observed in open and grassy areas, close to well-frequented places. They shelter in holes in trees in the winter and build big nests out of leaves in the spring.
Grey squirrel
© Jacques Dorais
Red squirrel
Long absent on Mount Royal because of a lack of appropriate habitat, they now inhabit in the conifer forests that were planted in the 1960s. They are wilder and harder to observe than grey squirrels, but one often finds their leftovers on rocks or tree stumps: piles of chewed pine cones.
Red squirrel
©Gilles Gonthier
Eastern chipmunk
They can be seen from spring to fall, darting along the ground, their cheeks stuffed with food. Chipmunks dig out burrows under rocks or stumps to spend winter in a state of pseudo-hibernation, close to their food reserves.
Eastern chipmunk
© Collection Les amis de la montagne
These are wild animals. Their diet consists of acorns, seeds, insects or fungi.
People should not feed them.
Questions :
(1) Salamanders may be observed in the forest of Mount Royal.
Answer True
(2) There are deer on the mountain.
Answer False
Bat sp.
@ Collection Les amis de la montagne
Northern Ring - Necked Snake
Photographer: Martin Ouellet
© Martin Ouellet Amphibia-Nature
Shrew sp.
@ Les amis de la montagne's Collection
Eastern Chipmunk
@ Les amis de la montagne's Collection
Dog-day Cicada
Photographer: Samuel Montigné
@ Les amis de la montagne's Collection
Goldfish
Photographer: Samuel Montigné
@ Les amis de la montagne's Collection
Woodchuck
Photographer: Jean-Michel Villanove
@ Les amis de la montagne's Collection
Woodlouse
@ Les amis de la montagne's Collection
Commun Walking Stick
Photographer: Samuel Montigné
@ Les amis de la montagne's Collection
Eastern Red-backed Salamander
Photographer: Martin Ouellet
© Martin Ouellete Amphibia-Nature
Spotted Lady Beetle
Photographer: Samuel Montigné
@ Les amis de la montagne's Collection
Dragonfly (Darner sp.)
Photographer: Samuel Montigné
@ Les amis de la montagne's Collection
Red Fox
Photographer: Karine Gagné
@ Les amis de la montagne's Collection
Gray Squirrel
Photographer: Jacques Dorais
@ Les amis de la montagne's Collection
Racoon
Photographer: Jacques Dorais
@ Les amis de la montagne's Collection
Red Squirrel
Photographer: Gilles Gonthier
@ Les amis de la montagne's Collection
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Mission: Fox
Monday, January twelfth, ten ten a.m.
Minus fifteen degrees, light snow.I have a mission:
Confirm the existence of the fox on Mount Royal.
I strap on my snowshoes, and head towards the summit of Mount Royal, hot on the trail of the fox.
As soon as I get there, I can see lots of tracks. (No pause)
Car tracks.
Footprints.
Here, a seagull.
And there they are—fox tracks!... Oh no… it’s only a dog.
It's getting windy. I'm going to slip into the forest. More tracks in the snow…
… is it a groundhog?.... impossible, they hibernate all winter in their burrows…
….hmmm… it looks a lot like a rabbit, but…. there aren't any rabbits on the mountain.
There, a grey squirrel. Ah ha! That's what's leaving those big prints when it jumps! Look, it’s hiding its food in the snow. And… foxes eat squirrels, so I must be on the right track!
And those little prints… you can even see the outline of the tail on the snow… a chipmunk? No, in the winter they’re all sound asleep in their burrows.
… oh! … there he is, a little deer mouse... hmmmm, a nice snack for a fox—I'm getting closer.
There! Fresh tracks, all in a line… one right behind the other. It really looks like a fox this time! Let's follow… they lead behind those rocks, underneath the tree trunk, shhh (shhing sounds), and there… there’s his red coat – wow!
Oh, oh! He saw me. There he goes into his den.
I just had time to take a picture.
And so, there are indeed red foxes on the mountain and I'm taking the proof home with me.
Mission accomplished. Case closed.
