Sarahad

Hi I am sure this has been covered before but I have done some searches and cant find what I am looking for.

Can anyone tell me what kind of wildlife we can expect in Alberta. We are currently in an apartment in Edmonton but we are moving to parkland country in Jan.

So far we have only seen dead animals at the side of the road! Deer and what we thought were wolves as they looked pretty big, but I have been told that there are no wolves in Alberta?! although I thought there were, and that they are actually coyotes that we have seen.

Can anyone let me know what wildlife is around us???

Thanks

Judy in Calgary

Wildlife species in Alberta's parkland ecoregion include:
Having said that, I find wildlife to be very sparse in Alberta. But I suppose you need to take my reference point into consideration. I grew up in Africa, at a time when herds stretched almost as far as the eye could see. Obviously Alberta is not the Serengeti Plain.

AnyaT

There are a number of arctic hares hopping around Edmonton, though you have to look harder for them now as their fur has turned white (it is grey-brown in the summer). Apart from that I haven't seen much in the built-up areas - TBH, we saw more in central Toronto including raccoons, foxes and skunks. We saw some deer, elk and mountain goats when we visited Jasper.

oceanMDX

I doubt that you saw any Arctic hares in Alberta. Arctic hares generally range north of the tree line (northern Canada), so what you likely saw was a snowshoe rabbit or hare.

While there certainly are wolves in Alberta, there are far more coyotes. Wolves generally are seen in remote forested areas - far away from major cities. They are far more common in the remote areas of northern Alberta than anywhere south of or around Edmonton. It may interest you to know that wolves will not tolerate the presence of coyotes in their territory and will kill them. A wolf can crush the rib cage of a coyote with its jaws.

Biiiiink

Tell us about the fish of Alberta, go on

Steve_P

I think you'll find that what you believe to be Arctic Hare are in fact Jack Rabbits.

The Arctic Hare's range is northern Canada usually above the tree line, not as far south as Edmonton.

oceanMDX

To see large herds of animals that can match those of Africa, you'd have to go to the tundra of northern Canada....btw our migrating caribou can totally run any African wildebeast off its feet.

Biiiiink

There's some great caribou footage in Planet Earth's "Great Plains" episode. Don't think it's aired in Canada yet but it can't be far off...

Alberta_Rose

Oh good about time we had another "Bear Thread"

Between us in one year we have seen bear, wolves, moose, big-horned sheep, Pikas, Elk loads of different squirrels, chipmunks and sundry deer in Kananaskis Country alone!

Love it!

oceanMDX

I'm more interested in the fish of Mexico as you can see:

Almost Canadian

Could you please PM me to let me know how you changed your non de plume ( I guess it had something to do with the moderators) as mine will look a tad silly in a month when I land in Calgary

Steve_P

PM sent.

oceanMDX

Yes, cottontail rabbit, snowshoe rabbit or Jack rabbit are the most likely species.

R2D2

In our back garden we have seen hares, gophers, more hares and ..........yup, more Gophers and thats it. Dragonflys in summer, the size of Lancaster bombers which freaked me out a bit I have to say

Get away from civilisation a bit at places like Elk Island NP and you could be lucky enough to see, Bison, Elk, Coyotes, Foxes, Deer, Porcquopine ( you know what a mean, can't be bothered to spell check)

Get to the Rockies and you may see Moose and Bears aswell. We saw a bear in 2002 on holiday here for 2 weeks. Since we have lived here, we have been to the Rockies god knows how many times and not clocked a single Bear. My parents had a week here in May and saw a Mother Bear and 3 cubs paddling in the water at Medicine Lake. Not fair !!!

Linda P

We saw a bear in 2002 on holiday here for 2 weeks.



Where was he on holiday from????

Sorry couldn't help myself .......

Linda