One of my favourite PEI animals is seldom seen despite being fairly common: the Northern Flying Squirrel ( Glaucomys sabrinus ), shown here in a photo by Ron Serres (used with permission).    Flying Squirrels are beautiful, large-eyed, soft-furred animals, with a flap of skin (called a ‘patagium’) running from wrists to ankles on each side. That flap allows them to glide 50 metres or more between trees in the forest and has been copied by the wingsuits used by some BASE jumpe

Some PEI wildlife signs are subtle, while others are hard to miss! These are the unmistakable holes of a Pileated Woodpecker.    Pileated Woodpeckers are roughly crow-sized birds, with black bodies, white stripes down their necks, white patches on their wings (visible in flight), and a dramatic red crest on their heads. If you can imagine Woody Woodpecker, you’ll be in the ballpark: the Pileated Woodpecker is said to have been the inspiration for that cartoon character.    Th

We’ve looked at needle-leaved and broadleaved trees this winter but standing and fallen dead trees make enormous contributions to PEI’s forests, too!     Trees die naturally from a variety of causes: old age, disease, insects, fire, weather damage, or environmental stress, among others. The death of a tree is part of the life of a forest and is necessary for the survival of everything from plants, lichens, and fungi to insects, birds, and mammals.    Insects such as Bark Beet

PEI’s bird tracks come in five different forms. So far this winter we’ve looked at two: game bird (featuring Ruffed Grouse and Ring-necked Pheasant) and classic (aka ‘anisodactyl’, illustrated by a Bald Eagle). Today we look at the third type: webbed (aka ‘palmate’), with ducks as our example.   The basic structure of webbed tracks resembles that of game birds, with three long toes pointing forward and one short toe pointing back. However, in this case, the three front toes a