Wild Images Gallery

Survey Says?

It’s the classic line from the TV game show Family Feud: “and the Survey says...?” It applies here to the following images collected during wildlife monitoring surveys with remote cameras in the summer of 2010 in Banff National Park’s vast backcountry. Black and white images are night shots which give us an indication of the animals that are active at night. See how many you can guess right.

Answers and more information are at the bottom...don’t peek!


1) Let’s start off easy. Toooo easy! No clues required here. Survey says?
© Parks Canada


 
2) Pricks like a pin, mews like a cat, loves chewing sweaty salty leather boots and saddles (our Resource Conservation Officers will attest to that!). Survey says?
© Parks Canada



3) It’s getting a little tougher now. This animal takes shiny things back to its nest, its urine has a pungent odour, but it’s not a rat (remember Alberta is rat free...). Survey says?
© Parks Canada 


 
4) Now for the really tough ones. First you have to find the little fella. Well camouflaged,
fast and furtive with a piercing call, this animal lives in comfortable grass houses amidst
uncomfortable rocks above treeline. Survey says?
© Parks Canada



5) Toughest one yet. It’s easy to see here but this character is seldom seen in the wild. You might not even know we have some of these in Banff National Park. Big eyes, big ears, nocturnal, a silent glider. Survey says?
© Parks Canada


Answers

1) Red squirrel 

2) Porcupine 

3) Pack Rat - Okay the rat-free clue was a bit misleading. Alberta is “Norway Rat”-free which is an invasive species. The pack rat is also a rodent, but it’s native of this area. More on Alberta’s rat-free status..

4) Pika - Some people call them Rock Rabbits, a more common name is Pika. 

5) Flying Squirrel


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