Furbearers of the Canadian Forest Quiz

Answer: Red fox

The vertical slit pupils of the red fox allow for maximum light intake at night. Foxes will eat a variety of small animals including rabbits and hares, brids and eggs, insects, and mice. Coyotes and timber or gray wolves lack the slight frame and vertical pupil slits. Wolverines are weasels, not canines.

Answer: Black bear

Though called a black bear, they commonly occur in many colours. (I once saw a mother black bear with 4 cubs, each a different colour!) Black bears will eat berries, nuts, grasses, leaves, insects, small animals, honey, eggs, carrion, and human garbage.

They can run about 30 miles per hour (50 km/h) and they swim very well. If you are ever thinking of fleeing from a black bear remember that it can run faster, swim better and climb quicker than you can. (By the way, the marten, wolf, and cougar are primarily carnivores.)

Answer: Bobcat

The bobcat is a carnivore that lacks the large snowshoe-like footpads and ear tufts of the longer-legged lynx. Bobcats eat a variety of small animals such as rabbits and hares, birds and eggs, mice and chipmunks, shrews and moles, mink and muskrats, as well as fish, snakes and crustaceans.

They tend to be solitary animals that will climb trees to escape from predators, rest, or chase prey. If you ever see a bobcat in the wild, count yourself lucky. (The cougar is larger than the lynx, and fishers and wolverines are weasels, not felines.)

Answer: Fisher

To avoid quills, fishers will attack a porcupine's head. Though famous for dining on porcupines, they also eat a variety of small animals. When natural food is in short supply, fishers will prey on cats and small dogs where available. They prefer living in dense forests and can walk or run down trees in the same manner that squirrels do. From nose to tail tip, fishers can be up to four feet long, weighing only 5 to 10 pounds. Fishers are members of the weasel family and, consequently, have scent glands. (Martens don't usually eat porcupines, and bears and lynx are not weasels, nor do they often eat porcupines.)

Answer: Marten

Martens prefer coniferous and mixed forests and are sensitive to harvesting of mature forests. While known for dining on squirrels, they also eat voles and mice, chipmunks, birds, rabbits and carrion. Being members of the weasel family, they have scent glands. Martens have also been known swim. (Bobcats and foxes are not weasels and minks, which are weasels, don't usually eat squirrels.)

Answer: River otter

River otters are well-adapted to their semi-aquatic environment, having a sleek body with a thick layer of fat beneath the skin. They live close to water and may even live in abandoned beaver lodges. They may be shy or very sociable, and they may live alone or in small family or bachelor groups. Otters are a real treat to watch in the wild! (While all these are members of the weasel family, only the otter is playful and water-loving.)

Answer: Lynx

While lynx are known most for their affinity for a diet of snowshoe hare, they will also eat grouse, waterfowl and eggs, squirrels and chipmunks, as well as mice. The lynx spread their toes when moving on snow to provide a snowshoe affect. Although the lynx and bobcat are approximately of similar weight (15 to 35 pounds), the lynx stands higher. Lynx have been known to follow humans, but not attack.

Answer: Muskrat

The muskrat looks like a large aquatic rat, though its tail is slightly flattened, which the muskrat uses to steer when swimming. Though lacking webbed-feet like beavers and otters, the muskrat has hair between its toes which aid in swimming. Like other rodents their teeth grow continually and are worn down by chewing. Muskrats are easily observed in marshlands, usually at dusk. (Beaver lodges are made of sticks, branches and mud, and mink and fishers are both weasels, not rodents.)

Answer: Raccoon

Raccoons live naturally in hollow trees and logs, caves, or burrows of other animals, but may reside in barns, culverts, and old buildings. With 5 toes on both front and back feet, its footprints resemble tiny human prints. They are adept at opening small doors, and even undoing knots and unscrewing jars.

They are good climbers and can swim when necessary. Raccoons will eat young birds and eggs, small mammals, carrion, garbage, fish and frogs, shellfish and insects, fruit and nuts, as well as berries and corn. Though they can be a pest to humans, raccoons are wonderful to watch as they search for food in areas like campgrounds.

While bears can be pests to humans by virtue of their brute force, they do not exhibit a high level of manual dexterity. Wolverines and martens prefer to avoid humans.

Answer: Wolverine

Wolverines are powerful animals with large teeth and jaws. Their affinity for carrion has earned them the nick-name "hyenas of the north." They weigh about 20 to 40 pounds and have a warm coat. They will often follow the tracks of carnivores in hopes of finding food left by lynxes, foxes, or wolves. Wolverine prefer remote boreal forests towards the arctic.

This is one forest dweller I would NOT like to meet. (While the mink, skunk, and marten are all members of the weasel family, none as strong and forceful as the wolverine.)