mam-ter-info-2

MAMMALS - TERRESTRIAL

Pg.- 2

The Wolverine resembles a small bear with a bushy tail. It has long, thick dark brown fur that is paler on the head; two yellowish stripes start at the shoulders and meet at the rump. At birth, the wolverine's coat is cream colored with darker legs and a masked face. The Wolverine is an aggressive carnivore equipped with a muscled body, powerful claws, a large head with strong jaws and teeth, and black piercing eyes. A male adult measures about 1 m from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail, and weighs between 15 and 25 kg; the female is usually smaller than the male. Biology : The reproduction rate of Wolverines is very low, being less than one offspring per female per season. The breeding season extends from the end of April to the beginning of September. Litters of 2 or 3 young are common. Females normally give birth between the end of March and mid-April, but do not necessarily bear young every year. Wolverines are omnivorous, consuming a wide variety of scavenged or fresh food items ranging from large ungulates (such as moose, caribou and mountain goats) to smaller animals (such as beavers, porcupines, ground squirrels and fish) to roots and berries. The Wolverine can walk for long distances, climb trees, and swim. It remains active both day and night and throughout the year. When it seeks shelter, it prepares a rough bed under a fallen tree trunk, in a rock crevice, or under a snow-covered evergreen bough.

The American Badger is a heavy-bodied, short-legged and short-tailed member of the weasel family. The body fur is yellowish-grey and grizzled on the back. The head has a distinctive pattern: the muzzle, crown and back of the neck are dark black-brown with a mid-dorsal stripe that runs from the nose over the top of the head to the shoulders; the ears are white trimmed with black; and the cheeks are white with a black crescent-shaped spot between the eyes and the ears. The feet are black. The front paws are armed with extremely long, stout claws for digging, while the claws on the hind feet are short and flattened for scooping away soil dislodged by the front feet. Biology :
Badgers are mostly nocturnal, but can be active during the day, particularly in the mornings. Their home ranges vary from 2 to 500 square kilometers, depending on region and habitat suitability; males usually have much larger home ranges than females. The size of an individual's home range is remarkably stable form year to year. Because they rest, store their food and raise their young in underground dens, burrows are at the centre of a badger's daily activities, and suitable burrows are frequently re-used. Burrows are often dug in pursuit of prey and can vary greatly in their characteristics. Dens for raising young are more complex than those used for resting during the day and have a larger soil mound at the entrance. During the winter, badgers can go into torpor, but the amount of time spent in this state varies greatly between individuals and from year to year, with some individuals remaining active throughout the winter. Badgers are promiscuous, with breeding occurring in July and August, but implantation is delayed until February (after the eggs are fertilized, their development is arrested for several months until implantation into the uterus occurs and then the fetus develops quickly during the actual gestation period). One to five young are born in late March or early April. Juveniles usually disperse from the natal den in June or July. They move over long distances (up to 52 km for females and 110 km for males) through seemingly unsuitable terrain. Males do not breed in their first year, but females mate during their first summer. Badgers are carnivores and are adapted to capturing small burrowing mammals, which is their primary diet in most locations. They pursue their prey and can dig very quickly to catch rodents inside their burrows. However, they are opportunistic feeders and supplement their diet with a wide variety of mammals, birds, eggs, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates and even plants. In southwestern Ontario, Woodchucks (groundhogs) and Eastern Cottontails are their main prey. Like most members of the weasel family, badgers are fierce fighters when cornered or attacked. In southern Ontario they have few predators, other than humans, however they suffer from fairly high mortality rates, especially as a result of farming operations and collisions with vehicles on roads.

The Townsend's Mole is the largest North American mole. It has a cylindrical body covered with velvet-like dark grey to black fur. Its front feet are broad, flat and equipped with five strong, straight claws for digging; the palms face outwards. The snout is pink, as is the relatively short hairless tail. It has tiny blue eyes that are usually hidden by fur; its vision is poor. It does not have external ears, but it has acute hearing, as well as a well-developed sense of touch. Adults vary in length from 179 to 237 mm. Males weigh an average 142 g, females 119 g. Biology : Townsends Moles are sexually mature by the winter following their birth. Breeding generally begins in January. The young are born in March and April in the United States, probably later in Canada. Adults likely produce no more than one litter per year in Canada. They have just three litters in their lifetime. Gestation is four to six weeks. The average litter size is three. Pups weigh 5 g at birth. Within a month, the pups will reach 60 to 80 g. Females evacuate spherical underground cavities for nests. The nesting sites are located on elevated ground, probably to avoid flooding during late-winter and early-spring rains. The species is generally solitary outside of the short breeding season. There appears to be little overlapping of movements between neighbouring moles, suggesting the species is also territorial.