Deer On the Move
NIKI WILSON – On Science, Jasper Fitzhugh April 11, 2013 University of Calgary researcher Colleen Arnison holds her binoculars to her eyes and peers into the pine and Douglas fir forest before us. She keeps a well-trained eye on a female mule deer that has just been darted by Geoff Skinner, human-wildlife conflict specialist with Parks Canada. The deer’s muted brown colouring makes it difficult to see in the dappled morning light. This is how deer hide from predators, and also how they make this kind of operation tricky. The tranquilizing drugs take effect slowly. Joined by project volunteer Jerry Duhamel and park official A.L. Horton, the team are like covert operatives silently closing the…
Something Bugging You This Winter?
NIKI WILSON – On Science, Jasper Fitzhugh March 14, 2013 Recently, a fellow insect enthusiast (that’s you Sue Young-Leslie) sent me a message asking about “those winter spiders” she’s been seeing around. You know the ones, most frequently seen dragging their sluggish, segmented rears across the snow pack on warm winter days. I’m not afraid to admit that bug identification makes my toes tingle, so naturally I dropped everything to find out what it was. After photo confirmation, we decided Sue was talking about the wingless winter cousin of the summer cranefly, ingeniously called the snow cranefly. It’s easy to mistake these guys for spiders, given the way they creep along. Around here they’re usually…
Animals Exposed: What Remote Cameras Might Tell Us
NIKI WILSON – On Science, Jasper Fitzhugh February 14, 2013 According to her GPS, field assistant Laura Machial was standing in the exact location where, months earlier, her team had attached a remote wildlife camera to a burnt tree snag. But as she shuffled her skis back and forth along the snowy trail, she saw no sign of it. Still in cell range, she called her boss, University of Montana PhD student Robin Steenweg. After a brief video-conference that included a scan of the area, he confirmed she was in the right place. They decided she should start digging. Eventually she located the camera, but not exactly as the team had left it. “She found…
Celebrating Water
On Science The Fitzhugh, January 10, 2013 By Niki Wilson 2013 is the International Year of Water Co-operation, as voted by the United Nations General Assembly. This designation aims to draw attention to countries that have committed to protecting freshwater resources, and to encourage them to start taking concrete actions to protect and share this increasingly valuable resource. Access to freshwater, and its key role in healthy ecosystems, may be the biggest global issue in the decades to come. This idea is hard to absorb when you live in a place like Jasper National Park. Here, the Athabasca River rushes by, rising and subsiding with the seasons. One only needs to walk a…
The Bear Snores On: New Science On Bear Hibernation
NIKI WILSON – On Science December 06, 2012 It’s the end of November, and I don’t know about you, but I’m a little bit sleepy. There are days I feel like I could curl up and doze until the sun starts hanging around a little longer. Some days it’s tempting, but to be honest, I’m only good for about eight hours of lying around before body parts start to ache and I need some pancakes. Bears don’t have this problem. They shut down their biological business for five to seven months of winter hibernation every year, without eating, drinking, defecating or urinating. Researchers have long been intrigued by these abilities, and have studied hibernation…
News
Parks Canada Columbia Icefields Wildlife Panels
A great idea for the Icefield Centre parking lot at the Columbia Icefields. Parks Canada hired me to research and write three interpretive panels on eagles, mountain goat and grizzly bear. Project Graphic Designer: Marni Wilson, Non-personal Media Specialist, Parks Canada.
Parks Canada Columbia Icefields Mountaineering Panels
Another fun project for Parks Canada. I researched and wrote six interpretive panels featuring mountaineers legendary in the Rocky Mountains. I interviewed subjects where possible, and coordinated mountaineer visuals for the project. Project Graphic Designer: Marni Wilson, Non-personal Media Specialist, Parks Canada.
Two Biologists and a Boy: I Love the Latex Gloves
From Highline Online Nov 19, 2012 Geoff often unpacks his work backpack on the floor by his side of the bed. I don’t go over there unless I’m vacuuming, because what may look like random piles of textbooks, digital cameras, charger cords and, at times, large-gauge syringes is actually a secret system Geoff uses for keeping track of things he needs for the next few work days. If you didn’t know what he did for a living, this may be alarming. Take for example the pile I found this morning. On top of a carefully balled up uniform is a scattering of important looking papers, overlaid by OJ-Simpson-like gloves. Of course, leather gloves are not…
Articles
The Bear Snores On: New Science On Bear Hibernation
NIKI WILSON – On Science December 06, 2012 It’s the end of November, and I don’t know about you, but I’m a little bit sleepy. There are days I feel like I could curl up and doze until the sun starts hanging around a little longer. Some days it’s tempting, but to be honest, I’m only good for about eight hours of lying around before body parts start to ache and I need some pancakes. Bears don’t have this problem. They shut down their biological business for five to seven months of winter hibernation every year, without eating, drinking, defecating or urinating. Researchers have long been intrigued by these abilities, and have studied hibernation…
Are Wolves a Danger to People?
On Science The Jasper Fitzhugh November 8, 2012 In the past year and a half, the Jasper National Park Pyramid Wolf Pack has killed two off-leash dogs, aggressively approached others (both on-leash and off) and most recently attacked a leashed dog as the owner attempted to defend it with bear spray. I have said to others that this is “highly unusual behavior for wolves,” because this is what the general consensus was when I did my biology degree almost two decades ago. I may have been partially right: a wolf attacking a leashed dog beside its master is certainly more unusual than a wolf attacking an off-leash dog, or any other member of the…
The Biology of Darkness
NIKI WILSON – On Science October 11, 2012 The Jasper Fitzhugh There’s something relaxing about watching a sunset. The blue sky slowly gives way to yellows, and reds. From light to dusk, then dusk to dark. I like to enjoy sunsets with a cold lager in my hand after a good hike. I don’t know if it’s the beer or the exercise, but I often feel a little bit sleepy once the sun dips from view. Turns out that although the hops and hiking contribute, it’s most likely the light fading that tells my body it’s bedtime. Periods of darkness are crucial for us humans, who’ve spent 3.5 million years taking advantage of the night…
Chasing Orchids
Jasper Fitzhugh, July 26, 2012 My son Dylan runs down the Jasper House Interpretive Trail, stick in hand, at first oblivious to the hundreds of orchids that are just off the path. After a couple of sword fights with his buddy, us parents call a time out and point to the yellow lady slippers that suddenly surround us. They’re perfectly bloomed, and it’s easy to imagine that an army of fairies hides under the logs, waiting for us to pass so they can affix the boot-shaped flowers to their feet. The trail is short – 300 metres from the parking lot to the lookout. But you could wander kilometres on other trails and not…
