Creatures of the Canadian Prairies Quiz

Answer: Towns

The Prairie dog is found on the Great Plains, stretching from Saskatchewan to Sonora and Chihuahua in Mexico. They prefer grasslands with sparse vegetation and soil that is dry to medium textured so that they don't overtax themselves building their burrows. The towns they create are a series of U-shaped burrows with chambers. There are multiple entrances and exits to allow for escape from predators and a mound of earth is built around the town to protect against flooding.

These towns can cover half a square mile and the chambers have a range of purposes. Near the entrance they create a listening chamber where they will keep an ear out for predators just before they decide to leave the burrow. The birthing/nesting chamber is typically laid out with dry grass bedding.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who wonders if these little rodents have a wheel burrow in their town. OK, I will leave now.

Answer: True

Ord's kangaroo rat is a small, nocturnal rodent whose range extends from southern Canada to central Mexico. In Canada, it is found only in the Prairie Provinces - southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan. Its habitats are usually semiarid, open areas. Kangaroo rats are called kangaroo rats because of the way they move, hopping in a manner similar to a kangaroo.

Ord's kangaroo rat has five toes on its hind feet and has gold-brown dorsal hair with a white stomach. Its long tail has a bushy tip and a white lateral stripe.

This question hopped into the quiz with the assistance of Phoenix Rising team member lg549 who lives where the real kangaroos are found.

Answer: Salmon

In common with other members of the salmon family, the lake whitefish have an adipose fin located on the back behind the dorsal fin. Because it is broad across the shoulders, this fish is sometimes also called 'humpback' whitefish. The species name, clupeaformis, comes from Latin and means herring-shaped.

Lake whitefish contain more omega-3 fatty acids than their pink and sockeye salmon cousins. They are excellent cooked in a variety of ways. In general, a good catch measures 40 - 60 cm (16 - 24 in) in length and they inhabit deeper waters. Found across the prairie provinces and Northwest Territories, the lake whitefish is one of Canada's most economically valuable freshwater species. In particular, Ontario's Lake Simcoe is a favourite for recreational fishing of lake whitefish. The species responds well to breeding in captivity and release to the wild.

Mackerel are marine fish, while some species of herring are found in freshwater locations, and are sometimes called shad. Lamprey (eels) are also found in freshwater. None of these fish is in the salmon family.

In spite of competition with dancing bears, this question was tickled out of the water and into the quiz by Phoenix Rising member VegemiteKid.

Answer: Plains bison

The plains bison, and its cousin, the wood bison, used to roam across North America in their millions. Estimates of their numbers in the 1800s ranged from 30 to 70 million. Thanks to habitat loss and trophy hunters, their numbers quickly declined to less than a thousand. Reintroduction programmes, like the one at Elk Island and the Grassland National Parks (Saskatchewan) are working diligently to address that decline.

The dwindling of their numbers has had a significant ecological effect. When the plains bison roamed the prairies in their numbers, their wallowing would create numbers of temporary ponds that became habitats for frogs and other water-loving creatures. Their grazing encouraged the growth of fresh vegetation, and it is believed that their dung may have been a significant factor in the richness of the prairie soil.

The plains bison is the provincial animal of Manitoba.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who is convinced that the collective noun for 200 bison is a bisontennial.

Answer: Alberta

The Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) is the largest wild sheep in North America. It was adopted as the provincial mammal of Alberta in 1889 and designated Colorado's state mammal in 1961. Today, it is found in the Northwestern United States and the US and Canadian Rockies, although evidence suggests that large herds (an estimated two million sheep) once roamed the Western United States and Canada. Rocky Mountain bighorns are renowned for their agility and balance, deftly traversing precipitous crags. They are capable of twenty-foot jumps and balancing on the narrowest of ledges.

British Columbia (whose provincial mammal is the spirit bear) is not considered a Prairie Province. The Rocky Mountains do not extend into Saskatchewan (white-tailed deer) and Manitoba (Plains bison).

Phoenix Rising's JCSon delivered this question into the quiz with legendary balance.

Answer: Coyote

The coyote is one of the most adaptable predators in North America whose range has actually expanded with the settlement of the continent rather than diminishing. Most native species have suffered with the loss of habitat, but the coyote has not only thrived but expanded into areas where other larger predators used to dominate and even competes in areas dominated by humans.

The coyote is also known as the prairie wolf or brush wolf. It is a mid-sized carnivore in between the larger wolf and smaller fox. The plains coyote is the largest subspecies. In Canada this subspecies can be found in Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.

In many Native American traditions the coyote is depicted as a trickster. Many believe this is due to the animal's intelligence and adaptability. With the coming of White civilization, the coyote became a nuisance and a pest. Unlike the wolf and other predators who have dwindled, it has increased its presence with the coming of civilization and can be seen living alongside man as civilization pushes ever onward into nature. This makes the clash between the coyote and man inevitable and as is always the case, the animal loses in the end.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising's resident wolfman who shares a kindred spirit with the coyote.

Answer: Burrowing owl

Burrowing owls are found across regions of both North and South America, including southern areas of Alberta and Saskatchewan during the summer breeding season. As their name suggests, they make their nests in underground burrows, generally reusing ones created by other animals rather than bothering to dig their own. They also tend to spend more time on the ground than other owl species - although they are perfectly capable of flight and hunting in a more traditional owl-like manner. Their plumage is largely brown with white flecks, and they can be particularly identified by the long legs that they need for all that running.

The incorrect options are all owls that live in regions of south-east Asia and/or Australia. Also, for the record, the fearful owl is supposedly named after its scary shrieking cry, not because it is afraid of flying.

Phoenix Rising's Fifiona81 dug up owl the facts for this question.

Answer: Mating season

The rut (from the Latin 'rugire', meaning "to roar") is the mating season of certain ruminant mammals like the elk. Come fall, bull elk will prepare for the rut by rubbing and raking the velvet from their antlers to expose hardened bony racks.

Elk populations in the Prairie Provinces have made a resurgence from near extinction in the early 1900s. The prairie-parkland or Manitoban subspecies of elk (Cervus canadensis manitobensis) was once abundant across the Great Plains of North America. Hunting, habitat loss, and disease decimated the herds and lead to extirpation across much of the region. Conservation efforts have led to recovery in the prairies of Saskatchewan and Manitoba and in parts of the United States. A population of Manitoban elk was successfully introduced in the Great Smoky Mountains to replace eastern elk that had dwindled to extinction nearly a century earlier.

This question was racked up by Phoenix Rising's JCSon.

Answer: True

Pronghorns live in the grasslands and can be found on the plains from Alberta all the way down to northern Mexico. Nearly hunted to extinction in the late nineteenth century, it now thrives thanks to some concerted conservation projects.

This antelope, sometimes called the American antelope, is used to predation having been strongly sought after since the Ice Age. Consequently, it has adapted to survive. Velocity has been one of those elements with the creature able to attain speeds of 60 miles (100 kilometres) per hour. This makes it slightly slower than the cheetah but, unlike the big cat, it can sustain its speed for a significantly longer period. The pronghorn also has the ability to leap twenty feet (six metres) in a single bound and has astonishingly acute vision.

Despite the pronghorn returning in numbers on the prairies, the Sonoran pronghorn (southern Arizona/northern Mexico) and the peninsular pronghorn (Baja California) are still endangered.

Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 was quick as a flash in getting this question on paper.

Answer: Antennaria dioica 'pussy toes' plant

Verna's flower moth is an owlet moth under serious threat of extinction, with rare sightings in only one place since 2000. A significant cause of its reduced numbers is likely to be the fact that the pussy toes plant, a member of the aster family, has been replaced in the native grasslands by crop production. Pussy toes host the Verna's flower moth at all stages of its reproductive cycle. The moths have a comparatively low reproductive rate; only a single hatching occurs each year, with the creatures laying only a few relatively large eggs, few of which survive natural predation.

This question was caught, observed and released into the quiz by Phoenix Rising member VegemiteKid.