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

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

Tracks and scat may be the most common signs of PEI wildlife, but they are not the only ones. Other examples include dens, nests, cavities, caches, browse, and this very cool adaptation: eyeshine. Not all animals have eyeshine, but those that do have a special membrane called the tapetum lucidum (Latin for bright tapestry) behind the retina – the light-sensitive part of the eye. Light passes through the retina and is reflected off the tapetum lucidum back to the light sourc

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s easy-to-identify fungi. Today it’s not one species, but a group: the...

Winter is the best time for finding wildlife tracks and sign, but before leaf-out in spring is second on my list. Being able to see...

Spring is a time of renewal, including for PEI’s wildlife. Early breeders such as Coyotes, Foxes, and Ravens have their young now, and...

We spend our winters in the bright, cold, noisy world above the snow, but all sorts of creatures stay cozy in the darker, warmer, quieter...

🎵 One of these things is not like the others 🎶. If you walk or hike anywhere on PEI in spring and summer, you pass many bird nests...

I get lots of questions about track identification, but one animal leads the pack when it comes to fooling people: Red Squirrel! Many...

If decorating a tree is part of your December routine, you’re not alone. PEI’s Red Squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) have been doing...

Many Islanders preserve fresh food for winter, but this seasonal task isn’t unique to humans. Our neighbours of other species do the same...