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Fauna
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The Canadian Shield region, located
in the northeast corner of Alberta, can be a cold and
inhospitable place in the winter. The Black Bear
survives these winters, where there is little available
food, by going into hibernation. To prepare for the
winter slumber where they may lose 20 to 40 percent of
their body weight, Black Bears must eat more than 20,000
calories a day in the summer and fall. Their sharp,
curved front claws allow them to climb trees - unlike
Grizzly Bears - to access food like leaves, insects,
bees and honey.
The smallest frog in Alberta, the
Wood Frog, makes his home in the Foothills Region,
although you probably won’t see any! Ranging from only
30 to 60 millimetres in length, the Wood Frog is very
cold-tolerant and can live at
elevations up to 2500 metres. It is active in hunting
for food like worms and insects and maintains a
healthy and widespread population.
While many mammals live in the
valleys of the Rocky Mountain region, there aren’t many
who live up high on the mountain. The Mountain Goat,
however, has several physical adaptations that help it
to live in this steep, craggy habitat. Its hooves are
designed for maximum grip on the rocky surfaces, and
though a large mammal, all four hooves can fit on a
ledge that is fifteen centimetres long and five
centimetres wide. To keep warm in the high altitudes,
the Mountain Goat has a thick and fleecy winter coat,
with hairs up to 20 centimetres long.
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